Giving up the Ghost
by Trufreak89
Summary: Naomi Campbell has always been different. She's spent her whole life hiding how different she and her family really are, but when misfortune throws Emily Fitch in to her world she has to finally learn to trust someone with her secrets.  Complete
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Giving up the Ghost

**Summary: **Naomi Campbell has always been different. She's spent her whole life hiding how different she and her family really are, but when misfortune throws Emily Fitch in to her world she has to finally learn to trust someone with her secrets.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Skins or anything associated with the show.

**Rating: **M (Language, adult situations, death...well this is Skins)

**A/N: **I'm in the middle of a fic at the moment and should be concentrating on getting that one sorted but this story has been floating around in my head for months and I thought it was about time I got it written down and posted. My other fic, Stockholm and Other Neuroses is still my priority but I should be able to update this once a week or so.

Naomi Campbell loved her Politics class. It was the only thing that made her time at Round View College remotely bearable. Her teacher was a jaded Irishman who was happy to bum cigarettes off her while they set the world to rights on the stairs behind the college. What she didn't like about the class however was that she shared it with one Katie Fitch. The oldest of the Fitch twins, she was a loud mouth with a penchant for leopard print.

She sat on the table in front of the blonde, with Effy on one side of her and Pandora on the other. She was prattling on about some fit bloke she had pulled the night before. Effy, who was supposed to be Katie's BFF or some bollocks like that, seemed less than interested in what she was saying. Effy was ok. While they weren't all that close they were acquaintances of sorts and gravitated in the same social circles. Effy was smart and she didn't mince her words. Naomi respected that. Her attention peaked as the class room door opened and a small redhead walked in loaded down with books and files. Emily Fitch was the complete opposite to her sister. Though they were both on the short side Emily was a little more slender and her hair was a vibrant red. She was quiet and intelligent with her head always buried in a book. She weaved through the desks and dumped everything down on the desk next to Effy, offering her a flustered smile. "Sorry I-"

Effy didn't wait for her to finish apologising for being late; she pulled the smaller girl down on to her lap and crushed their lips together. Emily Fitch was also Effy's girlfriend. Though they seemed a bit of an odd couple they had been together since the end of their first year at college and with only a few months of their second year left they seemed to make it work. Something kept them together. There had been rumours that Effy had tried to kill herself and Emily had saved her life. The only evidence of this was a small scar on Effy's left wrist, but Naomi had never had the balls to ask about it. "Miss Stonem if you can put the young girl down maybe we can make a start?" Kieran their teacher had followed Emily in and shot Effy a frown as he tossed a tatty briefcase on to his desk. Emily's cheeks were as red as her hair as she pulled away and sat down on her own seat. Effy once again seemed bored as Emily began pulling her things out of her bag. Very few things seemed to hold her interest apart from the little redhead.

"Hey girls, fancy carrying that party on at my place eh?" Cook, Naomi's best friend and partner in crime, leered at the couple. Effy and Katie shot him glares that would have shaken hardened criminals while Emily kept her gaze down on her notebook. Katie caught Naomi looking at them and turned her death glare on to the blonde.  
"What the fuck are you looking at Campbell?" Naomi and Katie had never gotten along. The blonde had gone to middle school with the twins and though they had never really spoken Katie had just taken an instant dislike to her. The bad blood between them had only gotten worse once they reached college.  
"Not much." She sneered back at the other girl, earning a roaring laugh from Cook.  
"Nice one Blondie!"

"Can you little fuckers at least pretend to be interested in learning something?" Kieran snapped from the front of the class. Naomi felt a surge of guilt. Though Cook and Katie and half of the others in the class could care less about college the blonde had every intention of going to university and passing Politics was a key part of that plan. She also kind of liked Kieran, he was nice to her and often listened to her ramble on about her crazy mother. The rest of the class was uneventful and as much as Naomi usually enjoyed the class she couldn't wait to get out when the bell rang. She promised Cook she would meet him after school to go for a pint at his uncle's pub before practically running out of the room. She made it to her locker in record time and dumped everything inside before realising her Sociology text book was right at the bottom of the mess. Sighing in frustration she began rifling through the locker, cursing as bits of paper and a half packet of garibaldis fell on to the floor. She bent down to pick them up and once she was back on her feet she noticed Emily Fitch was standing beside her. It was hardly surprising considering the other girl's locker was only a couple down from Naomi's.

For all they had known each other since the age of twelve they weren't friends. Apart from the odd 'hello' and 'good morning' by their lockers they had hardly spoke a word to each other. So Naomi was a little shocked when the redhead addressed her. "I'm sorry about Katie. She can be a bit of a bitch sometimes."  
"Only sometimes?" Naomi snapped back, realising too late her tone was a little too harsh. After all Emily was not the one who had had a go at her. She was only trying to apologise for her sister's behaviour; something she had spent most of her life doing. "Sorry. I guess I can be a bitch too." Naomi mumbled as she wrestled her locker door shut. The other girl shrugged it off as she opened her own locker. There was a colour coded timetable stuck on the inside of the door and all of her books were neatly lined up. It was a far cry from the chaos inside Naomi's.

"Are you coming to Sociology?" The girls shared most of their classes and in all honesty they might have been friends if it hadn't been for Katie and her instant dislike of the blonde. Naomi had wanted nothing to do with the youngest Fitch girl, no matter how many classes they shared. She fell in to step with her as they walked to their last class of the day. It was a warm Friday afternoon and few students had even bothered to turn up for afternoon lessons never mind stick around for their last class. Emily took her usual seat next to JJ, an equally shy young man who suffered with Aspergers Syndrome and clung to Cook like a shadow.  
"Hi Naomi." He greeted the blonde pleasantly as Emily once again began unpacking her things for the lesson. There were only a handful of other students in the class and most of them were sitting up front. Naomi's usual seat at the very back seemed ridiculously removed from the rest of the class and the substitute teacher they had been landed with pointed this out as she asked her to move. Even their teacher couldn't be bothered to turn up for class.

"You can sit here if you like?" JJ piped up ever so helpfully. He was probably the closest Naomi had to a friend in the class and so she took a seat at his and Emily's table, sitting opposite the redhead who offered her a shy smile.  
"Looks like Gay-J's on the right table." One of the goons from the football team sneered, laughed on by his friends. Naomi and JJ were not especially close, but the vulnerable boy was like a younger brother to Cook and as such Cook felt the fierce need to protect him. When Cook was not around this job fell to Naomi.  
"He's sitting with two girls." The blonde's icy tongue snapped as she pointed out he was surrounded by three beefy footballers. "Why don't you lot go fuck off back to the locker room and play hide the sausage?" The rest of the small class erupted in to laughter, leaving the footballer and his friends red in the face.  
"Fuck off dyke." He snapped rather feebly before turning back around in his seat.

"Thanks." JJ said sheepishly while trying to sink in to his chair. He hated to be the focus of unwanted attention, particularly when Cook wasn't around to back him up. Emily sat quietly contemplating something as the supply teacher rambled on about Durkheim's Broken Window Theory, something they had learnt months ago. No one was really in the mood to learn anything new and so they let her carry on her lecture and said nothing as she set them off to make notes from the text book. Naomi sat with her phone in her hands as she sent Cook a text letting him know what had happened. She didn't need anyone to fight her battles for her, but she knew from experience that teenage boys would not take public humiliation well and JJ would probably be the target for their revenge. Cook would be waiting outside the classroom to have a word with them before they left.

"Got any plans for the weekend?" Emily asked out of the blue, tearing Naomi's attention away from her phone. She had said more to her that afternoon than she had most of the time they had known each other.  
"Not much. Pub with Cook tonight." Naomi shrugged, deciding to engage in conversation with the other girl. There wasn't much else to do. "You doing anything? Seeing Effy?"  
"Yeah we're going out with Katie and Panda tonight. Family dinner on Sunday…" Emily trailed off as though she was not looking forward to her weekend.  
"Sounds fun." Sometimes Naomi just couldn't help being an unhelpful sarcastic bitch. Thankfully the other girl seemed to shrug it off. "Must be nice, having Effy around so much." She was clutching at straws trying to make conversation.  
"She needs me." Emily's answer seemed to surprise them both and the younger girl quickly changed the subject, asking what Naomi was doing for her coursework.

When the bell signalling the end of the day rang the three of them began packing up their things. Emily was the first ready to leave, but Naomi reached out to take her arm as she tried to pass. The smaller girl stiffened at the contact, causing the blonde to quickly let go. "Hang back a minute yeah?" She nodded to the door where the footballer and his mates were walking out. Emily frowned at her, not understanding her cause for concern. Her puzzled expression disappeared a moment later as James Cook appeared at the door, his hand around the footballer's throat.  
"You stay the fuck away from JJ, right? See those two?" He spat at him as he used his free hand to point to Naomi and JJ. "They're my fucking family. You so much as look at them wrong and you'll be wearing your nuts as earrings. You get me?" He shoved the bloke as he let go of him, knocking him in to his friends.

Cook had a reputation as well as a temper and the lads quickly skulked off without much fuss. Cook sauntered over to the group and slapped JJ on the back with a grin. "All sorted JJ my lad-o! Pub time!" He shot Emily a coy smile as she nervously shifted her bag from one shoulder to the other. "You and your fine girl joining us Red?" The smaller girl looked startled by the invitation.  
"Erm, no. Thanks. I have to go meet Effy. Thanks anyway. See you Naomi. It was nice talking to you." She gave the blonde a nervous smile before disappearing out of the door. Cook watched her go, blatantly eying up her arse.  
"What a waste." He shook his head mournfully, as though he ever would have had a chance with Emily if she were straight. "Come on then bitches! It's shots o'clock!"

They ended up staying at the pub until closing before going on to a club. Naomi had kept up with Cook drink for drink and pill for pill. She was swaying as she stumbled off the dance floor, leaving Cook grinding against some blonde with a tan as equally fake as her tits. She took a seat next to JJ, who was nursing an orange juice, and lay her head down on her arms. It was late and she was coming down hard. If she was lucky Cook would pull the blonde and he wouldn't mind Naomi leaving the club before closing. Her eyes travelled across the dance floor, seeking out her wayward best friend. She caught sight of him with his tongue down the other girl's throat and felt safe in the knowledge that she would soon be able to leave.

She blinked as her eyes settled on the door. It was open, revealing the slender frame of Emily Fitch. She looked sad, and her eyes were desperately scanning the crowded club. Naomi felt something tugging at her insides as Emily caught her gaze. She was saying something but the club was too loud and the blonde was too far away to make it out. Getting to her feet she managed to get her unsteady legs to carry her across the club. Emily had disappeared from the doorway by the time she had made her way over and so she pushed the door open, almost falling out in to the cold night air. The street around the club was deserted save for the bouncers on the door and the odd nicotine addicts huddled together just beyond the door.

"Looking for something love?" The smaller bouncer, a middle-aged man with a buzz cut, quizzed as she scanned the street.  
"A girl." Naomi answered, her words slurring. "A little redhead. She was just inside." The bouncer with the buzz cut looked to his friend for confirmation as he shook his head.  
"You're the only girl who's come out in the last twenty minutes love."

The blonde stared at him with glazed eyes, her inebriated mind unable to process his words. She had been positive she had seen Emily inside, yet it appeared the other girl had disappeared in to thin air. Shaking her head she decided she would ask the youngest twin about it on Monday. As ever the other girl would be at her locker when Naomi rolled in to college and she would greet her with a friendly smile and a 'hello'; and For once Naomi would actually speak to her. She had decided the youngest twin wasn't so bad after all. Giving up on going back inside the club, the bouncer was looking at her like she was stupid anyway after she had vacantly stared at him, she sent Cook a jumbled text telling him she was going home. He would probably notice it sometime tomorrow afternoon when he rolled out of whoever's bed he ended up spending the night in.

It was a pleasant night, or morning depending on how you looked at it, so Naomi decided to walk a little of the way home to save some money on the taxi ride. There were few clouds in the dark sky and the moon's crisp reflection shone on the surface of the water as she walked along the canal. Something caught her eye by the water's edge. A small pale figure perched on the low wall. Naomi's heart jumped in to her mouth as she realised it was a child. The girl was maybe six or seven. Her long black hair hung limply over her face as she stared blankly at the water. Her clothes looked like old hand me downs from the seventies, long flared pants and a hideous mustard coloured wool jumper. What she was doing in the city centre at that time of night was anyone's guess and Naomi was tempted to call child services as she walked slowly over to her. What kind of people let their little girl go wandering about unsupervised, let alone late at night?

"Hello?" Naomi tried to make her tone light and friendly, which was a hard feat seeing as it was usually scathing and sarcastic. The little girl didn't look up at the sound of her voice. She didn't acknowledge her presence in any way. She just kept staring at the water below. The moonlight reflected on her face as the water ebbed and flowed, casting eerie shadows on her pale skin. Naomi stepped a little closer and raised her voice. "I'm Naomi. What's your name sweetie?"  
"Rebecca." The girl's voice was little more than a whisper and Naomi had to step even closer to hear her.  
"Rebecca? That's a lovely name. What are you doing here Rebecca? It's late. You shouldn't be here alone."  
"I can't find my mummy. She said to wait right here…" Naomi was right next to her as she finally answered. She was reaching out to place a hand on the girl's shoulder when her head shot up. Naomi was staring at wide blank eyes. Dead eyes.

She screamed as her hand fell through the girl and she found herself hurtling forward towards the inky blackness of the canal. She hit the water head first and panicked as the darkness enveloped her. The blonde kicked and thrashed, struggling to get back to the surface. Once she finally broke free of the water's icy grip she took a deep gulp of air. Her lungs felt like they were being squeezed and her limbs felt heavy and stiff. She was going in to shock. If she didn't get out of the water soon she would die in it. Her arms and legs thrashed as she tried to make her way to the edge. She had never been the strongest of swimmers and the night air had taken on an icy chill the second she had fell in the water. Her breaths were laboured and the bank of the canal seemed further and further away with every passing second. She hadn't fallen very far in to the water, but her panic had carried her away from the bank of the canal and she was struggling to get back to dry land.

She stopped struggling. For a moment the current pulled her under, but she fought her way back to the surface. She hadn't given up. Not yet. She was too tired to swim to shore and though the shock of the freezing cold water had sobered her there was still a hell of a lot of alcohol buzzing around in her system. Instead of struggling she focused what little energy she had left on staying afloat while she weighed up her options. She had one last chance to save her life. In all honesty it was something she had vowed only to resort to in life or death situations. She hadn't expected to really be faced with one. Her teeth chattered as she spluttered out the water that was continuously getting in to her mouth. The current pulled her under again and as she resurfaced she made up her mind.

The water bubbled and frothed around her, as though it was in a pan and someone had turned the stove on. It welled up higher and higher, pushing her up above the surface. The water continued to rise and rise, until eventually she was hurtling forward, carried by a giant wave in the otherwise calm waters. She landed gracelessly on the grassy verge just below the low stone wall that was designed to stop drunken idiots falling in to the canal. Had she been sober her landing probably would have been a little more graceful, but as it was she was just grateful to be alive. Forcing her stiff and tired legs to work she got to her feet and slowly climbed up the bank until she was sitting on the stone wall. The little girl was nowhere to be seen.

The blonde hated a lot of things in life. She hated bigots and injustice. She hated people who told lies about her and she hated falling in to canals; but above all else Naomi Campbell hated ghosts.

**I know there's Emily/Effy, but this is going to be a Naomily fic, I swear! **


	2. Chapter 2

"Rough night?" Gina Campbell quizzed her daughter as she shuffled in to the kitchen wrapped in an oversized fluffy dressing gown with a nose as red as a fire engine. The blonde glared at her as she took a seat at the kitchen table.  
"Yes as a matter of fact it was. I was nearly killed by a ghost!" The blonde snapped; her fuse shorter than usual. Gina scowled at her in response.  
"Naomi don't be ridiculous." She scorned . "Spirits don't want to harm people…well some do, but few are powerful enough to actually-"  
"Only my fucking mother would have this conversation when their daughter says a ghost tried to kill them." Naomi interrupted the older blonde's rambling. "And ok she didn't actually try to kill me, but I almost drowned because of her!" A sneeze escaped her as though to emphasise her point.

"Oh my poor baby girl, what happened?" Gina fussed over her as she made them both a cup of steaming hot tea. Naomi took her own cup gratefully, cradling it in her hands to warm her up. She hadn't been able to get warm since going in to the water. Though whether that was from her experience with the ghost or the icy water was unclear. She let out a heavy sigh before answering her mother.

"I was walking down by the canal and there was this little girl by the ledge. She said her name was Rebecca and she was waiting for her mum. I tried to put my hand on her shoulder and I fell through her and over the low wall. I didn't realise she was a ghost."  
"Well you wouldn't!" Gina's tone was scornful again, all traces of sympathy having vanished. "You've got so many defences up you'd barely notice a ghost if they were dancing in front of you! You have a gift Naomi you shouldn't-"

"A gift?" The younger blonde had grown up hearing how blessed she was to be able to do what she could do, but she had not considered it a gift when she had gone to her grandmother's funeral at the tender age of eleven. There had been so many lost souls bound to their graves that she had started crying hysterically and loudly proclaiming that the dead people were shouting at her. Her father had walked out on them not long after that. He hadn't been able to cope with Gina and Naomi's 'gifts'. Then there were the torturous visits to the hospital. There were more ghosts in there than the graveyard and Naomi fiercely avoided both locations as much as she could. "I don't know how seeing dead people can be counted as a gift!" Seeing the souls of people who had died wasn't exactly her gift, more a by-product of it. Naomi came from a long line of women who were born with peculiar abilities. They could move things with their minds, sense impending danger, pick up on other people's moods, and even have visions of the past and future. Not many could do all of those things as Naomi could. Even among the 'gifted' Naomi was considered special. Gina and people like her called themselves psychic or telekinetic. Naomi called herself a freak.

She could manipulate the world around her, sense what others were truly feeling and had once or twice had a vision of the future from touching an object, but Naomi had never wanted her 'gifts' and had used them as little as possible and put up defences against the spirits so that she wouldn't see them, until they had eventually diminished from her sight. Admittedly she had been grateful she had been able to control the water the night before when she had managed to sling herself back to shore. She hadn't done something so momentous in a long time and it had drained her badly.

Being part of the supernatural world, whether she liked it or not, sort of made her in tune with the other worldly, like spirits and ghosts. She had turned her back on her mother's world when her father had left them and the kids in school had started teasing her for how weird her hippie mum was. She'd ignored the supernatural world for so long it was rare she ever noticed lingering spirits. "Maybe you saw her because you'd been drinking? Lowered your inhibitions?" Gina changed tactics. They had already had enough countless rows about Naomi's 'gift' over the years. "Or maybe something made you more aware of their presence. Have you seen any other spirits lately?"  
"No." Naomi grumbled through clenched teeth. She hated talking about that kind of stuff. It only encouraged her mother. As far as Naomi was concerned she would be happy to never see another ghost again for the rest of her life.

As Naomi walked up to her locker on Monday morning she wasn't sure whether she was relieved or disappointed to find Emily wasn't standing there. She had stuck by her decision to make more of an effort in speaking to the smaller girl, starting with saying more than 'hello' to her at her locker; but it seemed fate had intervened. Naomi was running late, she had spent most of the weekend in bed recovering from Friday night's ordeal and had struggled to get up on time that morning. Emily had probably been to her locker already and would be sitting with Effy and Katie in the politics classroom that doubled as their form room. Naomi hastily shoved her things in to her metal locker and made her way to the form room she shared with Emily and the others as well as Cook and JJ. She got there just before the bell for registration, which was still long before Kieran turned up. The table at the back of the room, usually occupied by Effy and her gang was empty. Naomi sat down next to JJ and quizzed him on where the others were.

"Was there some sort of last minute trip no one told me about?" She joked as JJ greeted her. He looked just as confused as she was as he shrugged in response. Cook of course was still sleeping off his hangover from yet another night out, while Naomi was sensible enough not to get wasted on a Sunday night. Besides Naomi and JJ there were only four or five other students. Kieran finally turned up to take registration. He took one look at the near empty classroom and decided not to bother.  
"Maybe they all went out last night?" JJ suggested as they sat waiting for the bell for first period. They had Politics again anyway so Naomi wouldn't have to go far.

"Maybe." The blonde agreed, though she couldn't help but feel something was off. She remembered how Emily had looked Saturday night, though in the sober light of day she couldn't be absolutely certain she had actually seen her, she had seemed upset. Perhaps she and Effy had had an argument, or broken up? Maybe they were busy _making up._ Though that wouldn't explain why Katie and Panda would be absent as well. Maybe the rumours about Effy were true and she had tried to hurt herself again? Maybe it was none of Naomi's damn business. The blonde chided herself for taking such an interest in a girl who was a relative stranger. Emily and the others would turn up eventually. She had bigger things to worry about anyway. She had seen another ghost on the way in to school. An elderly man dressed in raggedy clothing who had probably died in the doorway he was perched in. She had forced herself to keep her gaze ahead of her as she passed him. If a spirit worked out she could see them they would try to pester her with the tragedy of their life and death. The dead always wanted justice; as far as Naomi was concerned it wasn't her responsibility to give it to them.

She had no idea what had made her so overly sensitive to the dead around her, but whatever was going on she wanted it to pass quickly. Being a teenager was hard enough without the constant presence of the dead. All through Politics she had been trying to think what could have caused her to let the other world in to her perception. She had been fairly drunk and the little girl's clothing suggested she was an old spirit; she'd probably been dead maybe thirty to forty years. The longer a spirit lingered in the living world the more powerful it became. Hauntings and poltergeists tended to be spirits of those who had passed away centuries ago; or had come to violent ends.

Her attention was ripped from spirits and things that go bump in the night as she caught sight of Emily standing by her locker. She was wearing the same clothes Naomi had seen her in Friday night at the club. A blue and yellow chequered shirt over black straight leg jeans and biker boots. The blue bow on the side of her head stood out from her bright crimson hair. She looked tired and fed up as she leant against the lockers. As Naomi grew closer she realised she was leaning against _her _locker. "Excuse me." The blonde asked politely as she stood in front of the redhead waiting for her to move. Her expression was vacant, as though her attention was miles away. Her eyes snapped on to Naomi's as she realised the other girl was talking to her.

"You can see me?" Her expression showed some sign of life for the first time as she moved aside to let Naomi get to her locker.  
"Well you're not _that _short." Naomi hadn't intended to be harsh with the other girl, but her usually short temper was practically none existent after the weekend she had had. The smaller girl didn't seem to mind her tone.  
"You can see me?" Emily repeated; her gravelly voice full of disbelief. "And you can hear me! Thank fuck! Something really fucking weird is going on-" She tried to place her hand on Naomi's arm, but her fingers went straight through the flesh and on to the other side. Naomi jumped back as though she had been scolded.

The truth was quite the opposite. Emily's touch had been icy, as cold as the water Naomi had landed in the other night. Emily's eyes were wide and tearful as she pulled her hand back and stared at it as though it were foreign to her. "What the hell is going on?" The bell signalling the end of first period rang out in the empty hallway and before Naomi could answer the halls flooded with people. She ignored the sobbing girl beside her as she wrenched open her locker door and pretended to busy herself with the books inside. People jostled her as they shoved past in large groups. They were walking right through Emily and the young woman was getting hysterical. She started shouting at the top of her voice and trying to shove at the students who walked in to her path; her hands just fell through them. "Naomi!" She pleaded desperately as she stood right up against the blonde, sending shivers through the other girl. While some of the things people thought about ghosts were just plain nonsense cold spots were real.

Naomi's eyes were stinging from holding back tears and she could feel her entire body shaking. She at least had her answer as to what had made her more sensitive to the spirits around her. Once the hallway was empty again she stepped back from her locker, though she held on to the door for support. Her legs felt like they were made out of jelly and would give way at any minute. There were tears rolling down her eyes as she faced the still hysterical redhead. She had screamed and screamed and yet not a single soul had heard her, save for Naomi. "You're dead." Naomi finally answered her question, choking on the words as they left her lips. She had not known Emily very well, but to find out someone you knew had died was a shock no matter how often you spoke to them; especially when you had to break the news to their hysterical ghost.

Emily stared at her like she had suddenly grown two heads. She let out a laugh. It was a horrible forced laughter that bordered on turning in to another sob. "What are you talking about? I'm not dead! I'm here! I'm talking to you!"  
"And you're still in Friday's clothes. I bet no one else has spoken to you, even acknowledged you, since Friday? People keep walking through you and you can't touch anything. I'm sorry Emily, I really really am…but you're dead."  
"No!" Emily shouted as she shook her head in defiance. She couldn't be dead. It just wasn't possible. "If I'm some sort of ghost then how can you see me? How can you talk to me?"

Normally faced with a question about her abilities Naomi would have shut down and shut up. Emily needed an explanation though. She needed to understand what was happening to her. "I'm different Emily. I come from a long line of people who are _different_. Who can do things and see things that other people can't." She had never shared this information with anyone. She was trusting Emily with something she had never trusted another living being with. Except Emily wasn't really living anymore either.  
"So you're some sort of special case and I'm dead? Riiiight. I need your fucking help here Naomi, not a wind up!" She turned on her heels, intending to storm off. Naomi would have laughed at how Katie-like she's just sounded, but there was nothing funny about the situation she had found herself in. Naomi reached out for her, too late forgetting she wasn't corporeal. Her hand slipped right through Emily's arm. The other girl shuddered with her.  
"I really don't like that." Emily's voice was small and meek. There were tears welling up in her eyes again as she slowly resigned herself to the fact that Naomi was telling her the truth. Her memories of Friday night were fuzzy, and she couldn't really remember the rest of the weekend, or how she had come to be at the college without Katie.

_She remembered going out that night with Katie and the others. She remembered a massive argument with Effy and someone else. Katie maybe? She'd stormed off from the group. She was walking somewhere, but it was the wrong direction for home…it was cold and dark. She'd wished she'd listened to Effy and stayed in the club…someone had stopped her in the street. She felt they were familiar but she couldn't put a name or a face to them. She had felt pain then…or had it been later? Either way it had been intense mind numbing pain that had blocked everything out and then…and then nothing. _

The first thing she remembered next was walking around the hallways of the college, unable to open any of the doors and ignored by everyone she had tried to speak to. Except Naomi. Naomi Campbell the girl she had barely shared more than a handful of words with could see her. And she was telling her she was dead.

Naomi's expression softened as she read the acceptance on Emily's face. She knew what Naomi was saying was the truth. Emily Fitch was dead. "Katie's not in school. You should go home, see her and your mum and dad. If you didn't know you were dead then maybe you just need to see them before you can move on-"  
"Move on?" Emily's eyes were wide with fear. "Move on where?" That was a question the blonde couldn't answer for her. Her knowledge of death only extended to earth bound spirits. She had no idea where they went once they felt they were free to leave.  
"How do I get to Katie?" Emily tried another question, one she hoped the blonde could help her with. "I've been walking around the college for over an hour…I can't seem to get anywhere." Emily was calming down, focusing on a plan of action and it helped Naomi to focus too. She subtly wiped at her eyes, hoping Emily didn't notice her.

"You're spirit is new, you're going to be disorientated for a little while. You might just appear in random places depending on what draws you in, a loved one, a memory, a meaningful place-"  
"Can you help me?" Emily cut her off with wide pleading eyes that bore in to Naomi's own soul. She had made her decision years ago not to get involved with the dead or their problems. She had enough of her own to deal with, but Emily wasn't just another lost soul. Up until a few days ago she had been a living breathing being; and a sort of acquaintance. "Please, you know about this stuff. Just help me get to my family and find out what the fuck happened to me. Please Naomi? You're my only hope."

**Managed to get this chapter finished off quicker than I thought I would, the perks of being middle management mean I occasionally get to sit in my office and write fanfiction :] Anyway thanks for the reviews and to everyone who is reading. I know what you're thinking, how can this be a Naomily fic if Emily is dating Effy, and also dead? Well it's an unconventional one, give it a go? I promise Naomily goodness. **


	3. Chapter 3

"Why can't I remember where I live?" Emily was starting to panic again as they sat on the front steps leading in to the college. It had taken several attempts to get her out of the building. She was emotional and unfocussed. It took energy for spirits to move; and concentration. Naomi had ordered Emily to concentrate on her; to focus on following her out of the building. It had finally worked, but they had quickly been faced with their next challenge when Emily admitted she couldn't remember where she lived. It was not uncommon for some new spirits to be confused for a while. It was sometimes hard to make connections to the world they had been torn from.

"Things will be fuzzy for a while. It'll come back to you…look why don't we try using the computers in the library to see if anything comes up about what happened to you? Maybe it was in the news?" Naomi had spent the weekend recovering in bed and could quite easily have missed the news of Emily's death, though she would be surprised no one had told JJ or Kieran. Surely if a student died they would announce it? Or have some sort of assembly and offer counselling and stuff? Emily was quite quiet but she belonged to a popular crowd, a lot of people would mourn her, and just as many would use it as an excuse to get out of coursework. Naomi could just see the airhead beauty students crying in to their hankies as they told the school councillor how traumatised they were by the death of a girl they had never known.

Emily was getting good at focusing on moving around and managed to follow Naomi back in to the college with ease. The library was relatively deserted and the two girls managed to get one of the computer terminals. Emily hovered behind her as Naomi took a seat at the computer and ran a search on Emily Fitch. Apart from her _Facebook _page and a few articles she had written for her high school paper nothing turned up. Emily frowned at the screen, unhappy with not finding anything.  
"Are you sure I'm dead?"  
"You're standing through a chair." Naomi snapped, her patience wearing thin. They had already established Emily was definitely dead. If the death of an attractive eighteen year old girl hadn't made the news then it must not have been foul play. She was about to ask Emily if she had any medical conditions when Cook popped out from behind one of the book stacks.  
"You talking to yourself again Blondie? Who's standing through a chair?" His tone was light and teasing, though he was giving her a wary expression as though talking to herself was only one step away from throwing an imaginary tea party and insisting Cook attend wearing a dress.

"Computer game." She lied and thrashed the keyboard. "One of those stupid RPG things JJ plays. I can't get the hang of it anyway." She closed down her browsing window and logged off the terminal.  
"Thought you hated those things."  
"I do that's why I stopped playing." Naomi loved her best friend dearly, but she was not prepared to let someone else in on her secret. The last thing she needed was her closest friend looking at her like she was a not job; or worse actually believing her. She didn't want another twenty questions about what she could do. She simply wanted Emily to be at peace so she could move on with her own life and once again bury her gifts and ignore the lingering spirits on Bristol's streets. "I've got to go Cook, I'll see you later yeah." She rushed out of the library before he could get another word out.

"Why didn't you just tell him what you were doing?" Emily quizzed when she finally caught up to the blonde.  
"I don't just tell everyone what I can do you know!"  
"I'm the first person you've told?" The smaller girl was quick to catch on as they made their way out of the college and through the car park. The sky was overcast and gloomy, perfectly matching the blonde's mood.  
"Yes." She grumbled in response, trying not to make a big thing out of it. "Do you have any idea where you live?"  
"In a house?"

Naomi tired not to remark on Emily's answer. They were both stressed and the little redhead had more reason than most to be snappy. She sighed in to her hand and silently counted to ten before trying again. "Ok, what about Effy? I think I remember where she lives from the house parties she's had. We could try there first? She's your girlfriend, if anyone should know what's happened…" She trailed off as she realised Emily wasn't listening to her. Katie Fitch and Effy Stonem were walking up the road towards the college.

"We'll try Cook and JJ, and Freddie too. Maybe one of them saw her-" The oldest Fitch twin caught Naomi looking at them and scowled. "Why don't you take a fucking picture dy-"  
"Katie." Effy scorned, though her voice was low like she couldn't be bothered to put any weight behind her words. "Maybe Naomi's seen her?" There was an edge to Effy's voice, something Naomi had never heard in it before; fear.  
"Emily?" Naomi caught on to what they had been discussing. They were looking for Emily.  
"How do you know we're looking for Ems?" All of Katie's anger and grief was channelled in to her words as she rounded on the blonde. She didn't know her sister was dead. And Naomi couldn't tell her. There was no way she would be able to explain how she knew the youngest twin was dead if her own sister only thought she was missing.

The blonde was like a psychic sponge thanks to how much energy she had used saving herself at the weekend, she could feel the emotions coming from the other girls. Anger, fear, desperation. Guilt. One or both of them felt guilty about something. "She wasn't in class." Naomi answered the other girl's question. "Besides, if she's not with Effy she's usually your second shadow." She added, because bitchiness was expected from her and she needed to act as normal as possible. The last thing she wanted was to be the focus of attention in Emily's disappearance.  
"Well she wouldn't be with you, would she freak?" Katie spat back, her anger overtaking the rest of her emotions and subsequently feeding Naomi's.  
"Katie." Effy repeated, this time her voice was firmer and she put a hand on the smaller girl's arm. "Leave it."

She turned her attention back to Naomi. "No one's seen Emily since Friday night. If you see her or you hear anything call me ok?" Naomi nodded, not trusting herself to speak with Emily's ghost lingering so close to her. Katie gave her a final glare before carrying on to the college to speak to the others. Emily had begun immediately shouting the second Effy had mentioned she was missing. Demanding to know why Naomi had not told them she was dead. The blonde waited until they were clear from the college grounds before finally turning to answer her.

"They think you're missing Emily, and there's no way I can tell them otherwise without them thinking I had something to do with it! We don't even know where your body is!" Her words seemed to sink in and Emily began crying again. She slumped down to the curb and covered her face with her hands as she sobbed. Naomi stood awkwardly over her. Even if she had been able to touch the other girl she wouldn't have been able to offer much comfort.  
"What the hell happened to me?" Emily finally got a hold of herself enough to speak as she rubbed at her eyes. "Why can't they find me?"

"I don't know." Naomi admitted as she took a seat beside her on the curb. She pulled out a cigarette and took a long draw from it once it was lit. She exhaled the cloud of smoke as she shook her head. "Something happened to you Friday night. Maybe you fell and hit your head? Or walked in to traffic, were you drunk?"  
"I don't know." Emily whined; her memories were still wrapped in a thick grey cloud, obscuring everything from her view. "I just don't fucking know! You said things would get clearer!"  
"I've never spoken to new spirits!" Naomi objected defensively. "I'm not the fucking expert on all things supernatural. Your memories should get clearer…I just don't know how long it will take." The blonde admitted with a heavy sigh. Her mother was the one who usually counselled troubled spirits.

"So what? I just have to wait till they find me or till I remember what happened? What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go?" There was a desperation in the other girl's voice as she began to realise she hadn't considered being trapped as a ghost long term.  
"You can attach yourself to Katie, or Effy, like you did with me. Maybe watch over them while you wait to be found-"  
"But they won't be able to see me? Or hear me? I'll be on my own." The prospect of not being able to be seen or heard terrified her more than the prospect that her body was lying somewhere waiting to be found. She had lived her whole life being overlooked in favour of Katie, that was until Effy had come along last year at least, but she couldn't face never being seen or spoken to again. "Can't I stay with you? Please Naomi, I don't want to be on my own."  
"I…" Naomi couldn't think of what to say. She didn't want to be exposed to the other world. She wanted to push her abilities deep down within herself and lock them away again. Having Emily around, having her energy charging her, just made her unstable. She was picking up on everyone else's moods, soaking them up like a sponge. But then Emily's big brown eyes were staring right at her and she couldn't say anything other than, "Ok. Just for now. They'll probably find you soon anyway."

She would take Emily home with her. At least there her mother could entertain the other girl while Naomi got some time to herself to unwind. The last time she had felt so wired and on edge she had sent a blackboard wiper hurtling across the classroom during one of her GCSE papers. Her abilities were linked to her emotions and the more anxious she got the less control she had. Having the ghost of Emily Fitch hovering around her was definitely making her anxious.

They took the bus back to Naomi's house, and the blonde almost kicked herself when she asked for two tickets and the driver stared at her like she was mad. She sat upstairs at the back so that if she spoke to Emily there would be no one there to observe her apparently talking to herself. She needn't have bothered though. Emily was silent the entire trip. She had managed to focus enough to take a seat beside the blonde and sat staring out of the window with an unreadable expression; lost in her own thoughts.

When they walked through Naomi's front door they were greeted by Gina, who, being the bohemian mother she was, didn't question what her daughter was doing home so early. Instead her attention was focused on the timid looking redhead standing beside her. "Oh, hello there. Does my daughter have a friend?" She grinned at the teenager, ignoring the way Naomi was glaring at her. Emily just looked at her with wide chocolate coloured eyes.  
"You can see me too?" She blurted out, the small matter of her death overtaking her manners.  
"Of course I can see…oh…oh, I'm so sorry dear." Gina's face fell as she took the time to really look at the other girl; there was a softly glowing edge to her form, as though she were standing in front of a spot light. It was the aura of the recently dead. "When did it happen?"  
"She doesn't remember." Naomi answered for her. She could see the smaller girl was upset and the last thing she wanted was for her to start crying again. A crying Emily Fitch was something she had no idea what to do with. "She went missing Friday night, her family are still looking for her."  
"Oh, you poor thing. This must all be very confusing to you." Gina fussed over the other girl, her natural motherly instincts making a rare appearance. Emily nodded meekly in response. She felt ready to burst in to tears again and wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around Gina and bury her head in her shoulder, but she knew she would pass straight through her.

"Mum, can you explain things to Emily? You know more about this stuff than me." Naomi felt light headed from the amount of energy she had been feeding on all morning. Spirits were pure energy and people like Naomi were able to harmlessly feed on that energy to heighten their abilities; whether they wanted to or not. Being exposed to such a new spirit after not using her abilities for years had left the blonde tired and dizzy. She just wanted to crawl back under her duvet until the migraine assaulting her head had passed. Of course her mother couldn't just agree without a dig at her.  
"You'd know as much as me if you bloody listened! I told you you can't just shut this kind of thing out of your life! It's in your blood Naomi! It's who you are-"  
"Yes mum, I'm a freak, I know! But right now I'm tired and I feel shitty and I'm going back to bed!" She stormed out of the kitchen leaving her mother to look after Emily.

The older blonde shook her head and scoffed. "She's a right huffy cow. Gets it from her father…right, now then, what are we going to do with you?"

**So I've discovered a sure fire way to annoy Naomily fans, kill off Emily! ;) But seriously I've had this idea floating around in my head for a while and I'd say I've got about 90% of it planned out****,**** and unfortunately Emily's spirit is a big part of it so it had to happen folks! Glad people are enjoying it and thanks for the reviews. **


	4. Chapter 4

After fleeing to her room Naomi had collapsed in to her bed and curled up under the covers. She woke up hours later feeling worse than when she had gone to sleep. Her limbs felt heavy and sluggish as she dragged herself out of bed. She still had a pounding headache, making her feel dizzy and groggy. She felt like a thick fog was wrapped around her brain. She trudged down stairs, stepping to the side to avoid the old woman perched on the third step from the bottom. The grey haired spectre had been there for as long as Naomi could remember, though it had been years since the blonde had last physically seen her, she had always felt the spirit lurking at the edge of her perception. Silently and slowly she made her way down the last few stairs, not that the old woman had ever acknowledged her before, but she wasn't taking chances when the spirit world seemed to be personally targeting her all of a sudden. Walking into the kitchen she went straight for the medicine cabinet for some painkillers and then to the sink for a glass of water. She cringed as the chalky tablets slipped down her throat. "Hey."

"Jesus!" Naomi's glass slipped from her hand as Emily appeared beside her. The glass shattered as it struck the tiled floor, sending water and shards of glass flying everywhere. "Fuck!" The blonde hopped up on to the bench to avoid standing on any of the glass with her bare feet.  
"Sorry!" Emily blushed as she ducked down to clean up the mess. It was only as her fingers passed right through the glass that she remembered she could not touch anything. "Fuck!" She repeated the blonde's earlier sentiment as she ran a hand through her loose red locks in frustration. Naomi felt her anger disappearing as she saw the anguish on Emily's face.  
"It's fine. It wasn't your fault." The blonde shuffled along the bench until she could jump down away from the glass.  
"There you are!" Gina appeared at the kitchen door. Naomi wasn't sure which of the girls she was talking to. "I thought you'd be where ever Naomi was." The older blonde smiled, ignoring the glass on the floor as she took a seat at the kitchen table.  
"What?" Emily looked flustered and confused. "I just…we were talking and then I was here…I…"

"It's the energy dear; it's what draws spirits like you to people like us. We manipulate the energy in the air; channel it for our own use, kind of like chi. That's probably what drew you to the college in the first place. Naomi's like a big shining ball of energy. Even among the special she's gifted." Naomi rolled her eyes at the obvious dig. She was in no mood to be lectured about wasting her so called gifts. Her carefree hippie mother had let her make her own decisions regarding everything else in her life. She just couldn't let go about ignoring her so called gifts.  
"I'm also starving, what's for dinner?" She grumbled, trying to take the spotlight away from herself. Gina could be seriously embarrassing sometimes; it was why Naomi rarely had friends over at the house. Except for Cook and JJ of course. The boys were her closest friends and Cook crashed on her sofa most weekends. She didn't have many friends who were girls. She couldn't deal with the bitching and the backstabbing that came with a large group of girl friends.

As Gina rummaged around in the fridge Naomi's phone started ringing upstairs. Rushing up to her room she couldn't help but roll her eyes when she saw who was calling. "I'm not going out tonight." She anticipated why Cook would be ringing her. She was surprised by his response.  
"Emily's missing. I told Ef we'd have a scout around town. See if anyone's seen her." His voice was strained and a little choked. Naomi hadn't thought he was all that close to the youngest Fitch, but he sounded concerned about her disappearance. The blonde wished she could just tell Effy and the others that Emily was dead, but she couldn't think of a way of doing so without sounding like a nut or incriminating herself.  
"Aren't the police looking?" She had been missing for the whole weekend after all.  
"The kind of people I know don't talk to coppers babe." He scoffed at her naivety. "JJ's gone out looking with Pandapops and Tommo. Me and you are gonna go down Uncle Keith's. I'll see you there in an hour, yeah?"  
"Yeah. Course." She hung up and found Emily standing in her room, looking at her expectantly. "Your parents called the police. Effy's got the others out looking too. I'm going to meet Cook…what?" The blonde's eyes narrowed as Emily stared at her intently.

She shrugged sheepishly, a blush spreading over her cheeks. "It's just…you're doing all this to help me, and, well you barely said two words to me when I was alive." She hadn't meant it as an accusation, but Naomi still felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. Emily was right though. They had gone to the same middle school and college yet she had barely spoken to the other girl. They had drifted in to the same social circles yet had just never seemed to connect. At parties and on nights out Emily had kept by Katie's side when they were younger, and then Effy's once they had started dating. Naomi had always been too occupied with keeping up with Cook to pay the redhead much attention.  
"I'm sorry." There was nothing else she could say. She couldn't turn back the clock. Emily was dead and there was nothing Naomi could do to change that. "I wish I'd known you better."  
"Me too."

When Naomi walked in to Cook's uncle's pub she was closely followed by Emily. She had tried to talk the smaller girl in to staying with Gina, but Emily had insisted on coming with her. She'd made a good argument that she had more chance of remembering what had happened if she was walking around town with Naomi and Cook; though part of her had been terrified by the thought of leaving the blonde's side. She felt like the other girl was a rock, anchoring her to the world around her. "Hey Blondie." Cook greeted her as she took a stool beside him at the bar. He ordered her a pint before he picked up his own and took a long drink. "You saw Ems on Friday, what was she like?"

The blonde shrugged as she picked up her own glass. "Okay I guess. I didn't know you two were close?" She knew he was good friends with Effy, but she hadn't known he was close to her girlfriend. He shrugged as he finished his pint and pushed the glass away.  
"Emily's a good kid. Dragged my arse through last year. That Harriet tart was gonna kick me out if I didn't pass those shitty exams. Besides, JJ's got a thing for her." Naomi snorted in to her glass. Of course JJ would have a crush on a gorgeous lesbian who was completely out of his league. "She's nice to him, proper patient and shit...nice tits too. Her and her sister." He grinned at her, still his usual charming self. He took Naomi's silence the wrong way and nudged her with his elbow. "Come on, you can't tell me you've never snuck a peak Campbell!"  
"Fuck off Cook." Naomi was painfully aware the girl he was talking about was standing directly behind her. "We're not all sex mad perverts like you…what did Effy say happened Friday night anyway? When Emily went missing?" She tried to get the conversation back on track.

"The twins had a fight over something, Eff didn't say what. Ems left the club and no one's seen her since." Naomi risked a glance behind her to see if anything sounded familiar to the other girl. Her expression was blank. Obviously Emily couldn't remember what the argument had been about.  
"Do you think something's happened?" Naomi wished she could confide in her best friend, but as much as she loved Cook she knew he wouldn't take her seriously. His expression hardened in response to her question. He sighed as he got to his feet.  
"I fucking hope not. Come on Blondie."

Naomi was thankful when they finally left the squalor of Keith's pub. It was early in the evening and the city streets were still filled with last minute shoppers and people finishing work. "So why are we starting here?" They were on the other side of town from where Emily had been with the girls.  
"Emily text me Friday night. Asking where we were. I think she was going to meet us…So we're starting here and they're starting where they were."  
"Emily was coming to meet you?" Naomi felt a pang of guilt as she realised she could have passed her on her walk home. Emily might still have been alive, lying hurt somewhere as Naomi stumbled home.  
"I needed to see someone." The redhead scrunched her face in concentration as she tried to force the memories to resurface. "Maybe JJ? Eugh! I still can't remember anything!" With Cook standing so close there was nothing Naomi could say to reassure the other girl, so she carried on walking, ignoring the frustrated spirit behind her.

They walked down to the club they had been in last Friday night. It was too early for it to be open but the take away place beside it was. Cook walked in and flashed the young woman behind the counter a smile. He pulled out a photograph from his pocket. "Hey there sweetheart. I'm looking for someone-"  
"And have you tried a street corner?" Naomi bit back a smirk as the woman snapped at him with a scowl. If Cook was surprised by her reaction he didn't show it. If anything he just laid the charm on thicker.  
"Whoa there baby girl, where's the love?" The blonde rolled her eyes at her hapless best friend. She shoved him away from the counter and took the photograph from him. She'd guessed it was of Emily and she was right.

"Sorry about him. It's a full moon." She placed the picture of Emily down on the counter for the other girl to see. "Our friend is missing. We were wondering if you'd seen her over the weekend? She's the redhead." The girl picked up the photograph and examined it carefully. It was a picture of Emily and Effy. It looked like it had been taken in the common room as they were curled up on one of the sofas. Emily was smiling at whoever had taken the picture, her arms wrapped around Effy's slender frame. The girl behind the counter shook her head as she handed the picture back.  
"Sorry. I think I'd remember her…and her smoking girlfriend." The older girl winked at Naomi. "Don't suppose you're single?" The blonde felt her cheeks turning red as the other girl blatantly checked her out. It didn't help matters that Cook was howling as she stuttered something about having a boyfriend.

She slapped Cook on the arm as they left the shop and he was still howling with laughter. "Boyfriend? What the fuck Naomikins! You were well in there-"  
"Fuck off Cook." The blonde grumbled huffily. Cook ignored her of course.  
"When was the last time you had a shag girlie? Just 'cause the last one was a nutter-"  
"Cook! Leave it, yeah?" She wasn't discussing her sex life, or lack thereof, in front of Emily Fitch. "Let's try some more places." They spent the next two hours visiting every bar and fast food place on the way down to the canal. Emily didn't remember being at any of them and no one remembered seeing her. Cook got a call from Effy when they were halfway down towards where they were all supposed to meet. His face was pale as he hung up.  
"They found Emily's phone. Down by the canal…it's all smashed up."

The police had cordoned off the area to conduct a search. Naomi and Cook sat in a rundown pub waiting to hear what else they would find. Naomi knew it would only be a matter of time before they found a body. Emily had been thinking the same and she had vanished from sight, presumably she had picked up on Katie or Effy nearby at the canal and had been drawn towards them. Lingering spirits were often drawn to the loved ones they had left behind, as well as the places they died. If something had happened to Emily by the waterfront then she would be drawn back to it; just like the little girl from Friday night.

_The girl. _If Emily's phone had been found by the water, and something had happened to her there, the spirit of the little girl might have seen something. Naomi needed to get down to the canal as soon as she could. The sooner they could find out what had happened to Emily Fitch the sooner everyone could be at peace.

"Let's go meet JJ and the girls-"  
"I'm gonna go home." Naomi interrupted. "There's nothing we can do Cook. Just let the police handle it-"  
"You know what Naoms? I knew you could be a bitch, but I didn't think you could be such a cold hearted one." Cook snapped at her, his expression angry. She couldn't exactly tell him that she was going to sneak back to the canal once the police were gone to interrogate a ghost, so she chose to be flippant instead.  
"There's nothing we can do Cook. What if it were me? Do you think Katie or Emily Fitch would be out here freezing their arses off looking for me?"

Cook's eyes narrowed as he shook his head. He stared at his best friend like he had never seen her before. "You've got no fucking idea have you?"  
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" The blonde snapped back, his angry reaction fuelling her own.  
"Nothing." He grunted the word, making it come out sounding more like _nuffin. _"Forget it Naoms. Just go home."

Her argument with Cook left Naomi in a foul mood and slipping out of the house to go walking around the canal at two in the morning had not helped improve it any. The police had left by the time Naomi had returned to the waterfront, the remnants of police tape marked the spot where Emily's phone had been found. It was not far from where Naomi had gone in to the water Friday night and she wondered whether the phone had been there before or whether something had happened to Emily after Naomi had left. She remembered seeing Emily in the club, hadn't that been why she had left the club in the first place? To see why she looked so distressed? Had Emily been dead then? Had it been her spirit who had found Naomi? Having a psychic so close to her when she died, especially one she knew, would explain why Emily's ghost had sought Naomi out at the club. She felt guilty at the thought that she had been so close to where whatever had happened to Emily had happened. She had walked by the place where her final moments had occurred and been non-the-wiser. Which was ridiculous, because what could she have done?

She hadn't known Emily was making her way across the city, alone and probably intoxicated. She had been on her way to meet JJ, not Naomi. She had nothing to feel guilty for. Yet there she was at ridiculous o'clock in the morning, trying to appease her feelings of guilt by seeking out the ghost of a little girl who may or may not have seen what happened to Emily.

A glimmer in the corner of her eye caught her attention and when she turned around to face it she found the little girl perched on the railing again. Her eyes were wide, her expression hollow as she seemed to stare past the blonde. Naomi cleared her throat, "Rebecca? It's Naomi. Remember me?"  
"I'm waiting for my mummy." The girl's dead eyes seemed to finally focus on Naomi as she addressed her. "She said to wait right here." It was obvious Rebecca did not know she was dead, just as Emily hadn't realised. The little girl had probably sat there for the last thirty years replaying her death over and over. The dead could be quite ignorant of the world around them, especially if they didn't know they were dead, they would become consumed with reliving their deaths or fulfilling their last wishes.

"Sweetie, I think you were in an accident. A long time ago. I need to know if you saw another girl the night you saw me. A girl with red hair. She might have fallen in to the canal or-"  
"Have you seen my mummy?" Rebecca ignored her question, her expression blank as though she did not recognise the blonde. It was clear Rebecca had fallen in to the water when she had been left unattended and her spirit would not rest until her mother came back for her. The girl may have seen everything that had happened to Emily, but until her own unfinished business was addressed she would not be able to focus on Naomi's questions. Naomi sighed as she tried one last time to get the girl to speak to her.  
"Rebecca, sweetie, you're dead. You died a long time ago; your mother isn't coming back-" The little girl did not like what she heard and stated screaming at the top of her lungs. Though Naomi was probably the only person around who could hear the screams they did not go unnoticed by the local animal population. All around her dogs started howling as cat's hissed and cowered away from the sound.

It ended abruptly as Rebecca disappeared in the blink of an eye. Silence settled back over the canal like a thick heavy blanket and Naomi was suddenly reminded of how secluded the place was. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she thought for the first time that Emily's disappearance may have been something more sinister than accidentally falling in to the canal. Her phone had been smashed after all. Had someone followed her in the darkness? Waited until she reached the waterfront and then attacked her? Was it a stranger? A random from a club, or someone who knew her? After thoroughly creeping herself out she managed to get back on to the streets of the city centre. The nightclubs were just starting to get out and there was a soothing hustle and bustle on the streets. She got a taxi and was grateful to finally be in the comfort of her own home.

Her mother was fast asleep in bed and so she had to silently creep upstairs. Her room was cast in darkness and she was halfway through undressing when she noticed a more solid shadow on her bed. Panic welled up inside of her as her mind threw up thoughts of burglars and murderers. "Jesus Christ." She sighed with relief as the lamp beside her bed illuminated the room in a soft warm glow. Emily Fitch sat huddled up on her bed, she looked up at the blonde with a vacant expression. Her cheeks flushed and her eyes darted down again and she mumbled a 'sorry'. Naomi was confused by her reaction until she looked down and found herself standing in only her bra and jeans. Her own cheeks coloured as she quickly pulled on a bed T-shirt. It hung down low beneath her knees, covering her as she slipped out of her jeans.

"I might have found someone who could have seen what happened Friday night. But don't get your hopes up." She added as Emily's eyes widened. "It's the ghost of a girl who probably died about thirty years ago and won't tell me anything until her own last wishes are met. Which happens to be seeing her mother again. Which means I somehow have to find out who she was, who her mother is, if she's even still alive, and then persuade a pensioner who is probably already senile to come down to the canal with me to find out what I need, and to lay her daughter's spirit to rest." The blonde had a headache just thinking about it. People did not tend to take kindly to the news that their loved ones were not at peace.  
"Can you really do all that?" Emily questioned, her faith in the blonde wavering. Naomi was hardly a people person and it would take exceptional people skills to convince someone to do as she needed, even if they could find out who the little girl was. The blonde shrugged in response as she tossed her discarded clothing across the chair by her desk.

"Mum's done stuff like that a few times. She'll help…What about the police? Did they find anything else?" She wasn't sure what to say as she pulled back the covers of her bed and slipped under them. The bed was a double and Emily was curled up on the far side, leaving the blonde plenty of room. It wasn't quite how she had imagined having Emily Fitch in her bed; not that she had ever really thought about having the youngest twin in her bed. Emily shook her head in answer to her question.  
"Just my phone. They're going to try to recover the data on it, see if I was meeting anyone, who I called last etc. I think it was Cook."  
"Why? Why leave Effy to meet Cook?" The blonde couldn't understand why Emily had left her girlfriend and her twin. Even if she had been arguing with Katie, why had she left Effy behind too?  
"I don't remember." Something in the smaller girl's voice cracked. As Naomi lay in the darkness she was fairly certain Emily was lying to her.  
"Why did Katie and Ef even let you go?" The blonde grumbled in to her pillow. "I wouldn't let my girlfriend roam the streets on her own in the middle of the night!"

"Isn't your girlfriend a nutter?" Emily managed a weak smile. Despite her foul mood Naomi managed one back. Her last girlfriend had been something of a bunny boiler and it had not ended well. She still avoided her if she saw her on the street, or even worse, at college.  
"Ex actually." She corrected, internally cursing Cook for spilling that particular secret. "And yeah, she was a right fruit loop."  
"I didn't even know you were-"  
"There's a lot you don't know about me Emily. You don't even know me." The blonde's attitude was back as she snapped at the other girl. She felt bad the moment the words left her lips and Emily's response only made the guilt increase tenfold. There was something about Emily that made Naomi feel constantly guilty and looking like a kicked puppy with her big brown eyes did not help ease that feeling very much.  
"I know you're passionate about the things you believe in. I know you love politics and you want to go to Goldsmiths…and you keep a packet of garibaldi biscuits in your locker…I also know you never made an effort to get to know me."

It was true. Emily had been trying to talk to her since the first day of college. They had gone to the same middle school and barely said a word to each other. The little redhead had naively thought that college could be different; that she could break out from under Katie's shadow and make new friends with people like Naomi. Though she had plenty of new friends she had never felt so under Katie's control. When Naomi had talked to her Friday afternoon it had reignited her need to break away from her twin. That had been the cause of her argument and the reason Emily had left Katie and the others in the club. Though she wouldn't admit it, she had rang Cook to see if the blonde was with him. She had been going to see Naomi that night.

**Thanks again for the reviews and to everyone who's reading. A few things, NCL13 there will be no clay involved, I promise. Nothingman113 I wasn't aware of the Radiohead song of the same title. I gave it a listen :) I had the first chapter sitting on my laptop for a while until I could find the right title. Finally, Maudsfeather I am a fan of Being Human, and I love Annie's character. Not to give too much away but while Emily won't be 'solid' she will learn to effect the world around her. **


	5. Chapter 5

As Naomi's eyes opened slowly the next morning they were met with the sight of red. She blinked to clear her vision and found herself looking at Emily Fitch lying beside her. The smaller girl had been watching her and blushed as she realised Naomi was awake. "I can't sleep." She said, as though trying to explain why she had been watching the blonde.  
"You're dead." Naomi grumbled. Had she been slightly more awake she might have put it more tactfully, but as it was she was not a morning person and she simply grumbled in response. Hurt flashed across Emily's face as her gaze dropped. Naomi sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry Emily, I shouldn't have-"  
"No. You're right, I'm dead." Emily replied, her usual gravelly voice low and raspy. "I'm never going to sleep again. I'll never dream again. I'll never finish college and go to uni. I'll never get to kiss the girl I'm in love with again…I'm dead." Emily replied huffily. She disappeared in the blink of an eye. Not that she got very far. She appeared on the other side of the room. "I was aiming for downstairs." She sulked as she took a seat on the chair by Naomi's desk.

The blonde lay in bed for a few tense minutes before she sat up and ran a hand through her tussled locks. She felt self-conscious with Emily in her room. It was a long time since she had woken up in bed with a girl. She was certain she had bed hair and there were probably dark circles under her eyes from how late she had gone to sleep. She sat in bed eyeing up the state of her room. She really hadn't been expecting company. Even Cook and JJ didn't tend to get in to the sanctuary that was her bedroom. It had always kept her sane, having a place that she could cut herself off from the world in; and Emily was suddenly slap bang in the middle of it, invading not only her space but her mind.

"So what's the plan for today then?" Emily quizzed as Naomi slipped out of bed. The blonde had been thinking about what they were going to do and she had come up with a plan of sorts.  
"The little girl by the canal, her clothes looked maybe thirty years old. I can do a search on the net for all deaths that happened by the canal around thirty to forty years ago. Narrow it down to girls under ten. We find a Rebecca and we've got a place to start." Naomi picked up her laptop as she spoke and settled it beside her on the bed.

"That's brilliant!" Emily beamed, forgetting she was in a huff with the other girl as she made her way over to the bed. "You're brilliant." The blonde blushed and shrugged her words off. She tried to change the conversation back to Emily's predicament.  
"Have you remembered anything yet?"  
"No. Not yet." She had answered too quickly for Naomi's liking. The little redhead was keeping something back from her.  
"Nothing?" She pushed that little bit further. If Emily knew anything about what had happened to her then there was a possibility it could help them put her spirit to rest.  
"Nothing." Emily replied firmly. "I'm going to go check on Katie, okay? I'll be back soon."  
"Take your time." Naomi forced a tight lipped smile on to her face. She didn't like being lied to. At least Emily would be out of her hair for a while though. "Go see Effy too." The youngest twin scoffed at that and rolled her eyes.  
"Eff will be with Katie. Trust me."

Emily had spent the previous afternoon talking to Gina about what spirits could and couldn't do. She had taught her how to focus on people she knew and to home in on their energy to move around. Katie had been easy to find the night before, when she'd been close by at the canal. Emily closed her eyes and concentrated on picking up the familiar presence of her twin. She had spent most of her life with the other girl and she was easy to identify in the swirling hum of the city. Latching on to the presence she focused on moving to find her twin. When she opened her eyes again it was dark. She was momentarily confused until she heard Naomi's voice. "I could make so many jokes about you being in the closet right now." Emily walked forward and passed through the door of Naomi's wardrobe. She frowned as she found the blonde smirking at her from her bed.  
"It worked last night." She sulked as she slipped out of the room and went in search of Gina. She explained what had happened, hoping the older blonde could help her. She wasn't much use when she simply suggested she try again.

When Emily opened her eyes for the second time she was once again in Naomi's room. The blonde only looked up from her laptop as her bedroom door opened and Gina walked in. "Thought so. You need to focus dear. Remember what I said about being attracted to Naomi's energy, well it's distracting you. You need to ignore her."  
"Well _you're _certainly doing a brilliant job. This is my room you know." The younger blonde grumbled as her mother lectured Emily. Gina carried on ignoring her and ordered Emily to focus as hard as she could on Katie, blocking out Naomi all together.

After a few more failed attempts she decided to try something different and chose to concentrate on Katie and Effy, the two would more than likely be together anyway. Finally she managed to move from Naomi's room and she found herself standing in an all too familiar room. It was chaotic with clothes and empty bottles strewn all around the floor. Effy's room had always looked like that and it was nothing out of the ordinary. When the bedroom door opened Effy walked in carrying a cup of tea. She was walking around her house in a T-shirt and her underwear, which also wasn't out of the ordinary. Emily smiled at her, even though she knew the other girl couldn't see her. It felt comforting to be somewhere familiar. For a moment she could forget she was dead. She could pretend she was at Effy's after a late night out and the other girl was bringing her tea. Effy paused by the door, she stared around the room, as though she could sense something was off. "What's up babes?"

"Nothing." Effy shook her head and slipped back in to bed. She handed the cup of tea over to Katie and lay back down beside her. "Just thinking about Emily." Katie sighed in response as she put her tea down on the floor, scooted closer to her and lay her head down on Effy's chest. The other girl wrapped her arms around the oldest twin before placing a kiss on her lips. Emily sat perched on the end of the bed, her expression hardened as she witnessed the intimate moment between the pair. It was one thing knowing they were seeing each other, but it was something else entirely to see them alone together. "I'm really fucking worried Eff. She wouldn't just run away and not tell me. What if-"  
"Don't." Effy interrupted her, her voice firm and steady. "Don't think like that. We'll find Ems."  
"It's my fault." Katie had started crying again and her tears were soaking through Effy's T-shirt. She'd been hysterical when they'd found Emily's phone smashed up by the canal and it had taken both Effy and Cook to get her back to Effy's house. "It's my fucking fault she left the club in the first place!"

It was Effy's turn to sigh. Katie knew her feelings on the subject. "People were going to find out about us eventually Katie." The smaller girl stiffened and pulled away from her, her attention returning to her cup of tea. For once in her life Katie Fitch was silent.  
"Can we not talk about this while my fucking sister is missing please?" She grumbled as she turned her back on Effy and sipped at her cup.  
"We're going to have to talk about it eventually-"

The world around Emily began flickering in front of her eyes as Effy's words were drowned out by another voice. It was stronger and more insistent in Emily's ear, and it sounded distressed. The voice belonged to Naomi. "No. No! NO!" In the blink of an eye Emily was standing back in Naomi's room. The blonde was shouting at her laptop and glaring it at like it had personally offended her.  
"What's wrong? I heard you shouting." If Naomi was fazed by the other girl's sudden reappearance she didn't show it. Pinching the bridge of her nose she nodded towards the computer.  
"I found her." She grumbled. "I found Rebecca."  
"That's a good thing? Right?" Emily quizzed, not understanding how finding what she had been looking for could be a bad thing. She peered over the blonde's shoulder at the screen and suddenly understood. The headline screamed 'Mother and Daughter Die in Tragic Accidents Minutes Apart'.

Rebecca May had fallen in to the canal on the fifth of August Nineteen Seventy Four. Her mother had left her by the water's edge to chase after her little brother who had run ahead of them. The boy had run up to the main road and would have been killed if his mother hadn't knocked him out of the way of an oncoming car. She had died before the ambulance had arrived. Tragically Rebecca had fallen in to the canal while left unattended and her body had been recovered later that night. Lingering spirits did not tend to have peaceful deaths.

"Fuck." Emily cursed, her expression mirroring Naomi's. "We can't take her mother to her if she's dead."  
"And without her mum she won't tell us what she knows about you."  
"If she knows anything." The red head sulked. Naomi glared at her petulantly.  
"At least I'm trying to help you." She grumbled back. She knew Emily had every right to be moody; it didn't mean she had to be any more patient.  
"I know. I'm sorry. It's just-"Emily's big brown eyes were filling up with tears and she looked dangerously close to crying. Seeing Katie had jolted her memory and reminded her why she had left the club Friday night. Why she had gone off in search of Naomi in the first place. Katie had everything as usual. She had Effy.  
"No. I'm sorry." Naomi did her best to stop the impending waterworks. "I just feel so guilty. Cook's right. I was a bitch to you when you were alive. Now I've got a chance to make up for that and everything's fucking up."

A small smile spread over Emily's lips at the blonde's confession. She momentarily forgot all about Katie and Effy. "You weren't a bitch Naomi. You just never really noticed me."  
"I should have." Naomi dropped her gaze as it awkwardly met the other girl's. "I should have noticed you more Emily. I saw you, but it was like I didn't really _see _you." She added in a smaller voice. Her guilt had been eating her up since her argument with Cook. She felt like she had to make amends and putting Emily's spirit to rest was the only way she knew how.  
"Now you're the only one who can." The irony was not lost on Emily. All she had ever wanted was for Naomi Campbell to take notice of her. "Looks like I'm stuck with you and your mum." She tried to make a joke out of it but the blonde didn't even crack a smile. "Or, you know, I could just do one and go play Scooby Doo with the other ghosts."  
"What?" Naomi finally turned her attention away from the laptop to face her. Her brow was set in a deep furrow as she scowled. "What did you say?"  
"I don't want to be a fucking burden, ok? You don't owe me anything. We're not-"

"That's it!" Naomi's face split with a grin as she pushed her laptop aside and jumped out of bed. "Why didn't I think of it? Spirits can see other spirits! If the little girl is there then maybe her mum is too! We just need to get them in the same place!" She practically bounced out of the room to jump in the shower. They at least still had a chance to find out what Rebecca had witnessed. Even if it turned out to be nothing then at least the blonde would feel like she was actually _doing _something, rather than sitting around feeling guilty.

It didn't take Naomi long to shower and get changed in to a ratty old pair of jeans and a hoodie. She pulled her still damp hair up in to a ponytail as she walked down the stairs. "You're going out like that?" Gina quizzed as she greeted them at the bottom of the stairs. "It's cold outside love; you'll catch your death…sorry Emily." She smiled at the smaller girl as she realised her slip of the tongue. "Where are you going anyway? Or does college start at lunch time these days?"  
"Going to see a ghost about a girl." Naomi pulled her hood up and shoved her house keys in to her pocket.

There was a chill in the air as she stepped outside. Summer was just around the corner, but the great British weather was never one to disappoint and the thick grey clouds packed above her head were threatening to open up. The trip in to the city was a relatively silent one, until they came closer to the canal. Emily began to feel uneasy as they reached the water. "What if she didn't see anything? What if we can't find her mum? What if-"  
"What if we just try first?" Naomi replied, her tone harsher than she had meant. It seemed to do the trick in settling the smaller girl's nerves though and they lapsed in to silence once more. Naomi led them to the point Rebecca had fallen in to the water and then took a few minutes working out where her mother had been killed. The road was like any other in Bristol. The lunch time traffic was quite high and cars raced past as Naomi stopped halfway up the street.

Joanna May stood in the middle of the road, the cars flying through her as she looked around frantically. Naomi waited until the last car had whizzed past before walking in to the middle of the road to speak to her. Emily watched her go with a frown. "Excuse me? Mrs May?" The woman paid her not attention as she continued looking around the empty street. "It's about your daughter, Rebecca-"  
"Have you seen my son?" The spirit finally acknowledged the blonde was speaking to her. "He ran off, I need to find him. He's only four-"  
"You're son's fine Mrs May. It's your daughter Rebecca-"  
"I need to find Chris. My little boy, he's only three and he ran off. Have you seen him?"

"NAOMI!" Emily screamed at her as a car came hurtling around the corner and narrowly missed hitting the blonde. The driver blared his horn as he sped off without slowing down. Naomi's heart was racing as she made it back to the path. She pulled out a packet of cigarettes and lit one up, taking a long draw to calm her nerves after her close encounter with the car.  
"Thanks." She would have been joining Joanna and Emily in the spirit world if the little redhead had not shouted to warn her.  
"What the hell were you doing in the middle of the road?"  
"Trying to get Joanna May to talk to me, what do you think?" Naomi snapped back.  
"Well it looked like you were talking to yourself." Emily huffed. She hadn't seen any ghost, just Naomi standing in the middle of the road talking to thin air. The blonde's brow furrowed as she scowled, there was a serious risk her face was going to stay that way with how much she had frowned at Emily in the last forty-eight hours.  
"What are you talking about, she was right there!"  
"Well I'm not fucking psychic like you am I? I couldn't see her all right?" Emily shot back, sick of having the other girl snapping at her so much.  
"Emily you're dead-"

"Yes I do know that Naomi! It's only the fucking fiftieth time you've mentioned it!" The frustration Emily had been feeling since first finding out she was a ghost bubbled over as she began shouting at Naomi. "I'm sorry, but I didn't see anyone!"  
"I didn't mean to…I'm sorry, ok? But you're part of the spirit world, you should be able to see her."  
Naomi sounded genuinely sincere as she apologised, and equally concerned. "Maybe it's because you're spirit is new. I mean your memory's still fuzzy, maybe you just need a couple of days to adjust…Joanna was a dud anyway. She's locked on to her son. So once again we're screwed."  
"So we just find her son." Emily tried to encourage her. "He'll only be what forty now?"  
"Then what? He'll want to talk to his dead grandma, and she'll want to talk to her fucking milkman and he'll have this cat, it's never fucking ending Emily. And you were right, we don't even know if Rebecca saw anything!"  
"This isn't just about me Naomi. Joanna and Rebecca need your help too-"

"I'm not the fucking Bristol exorcist! This isn't my life Emily! I didn't choose this! I signed up to help _you_, because I felt fucking guilty ok?"  
"No, it's not ok! You can help these people Naomi! Maybe the little girl knows something, maybe she doesn't, either way we still have to try. Please, Naomi?" Her wide pleading eyes were boring holes in to the blonde as they walked down to the bus stop.  
"Alright." She let out a heavy sigh as she gave in to the pleading redhead. "I'll try and find him, but I'm not promising anything. You're my priority ok?"  
"Ok." Emily tried to hide the smile that broke out on to her lips. It had nothing to do with getting her own way. "So what do we do now?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Apologies that this chapter took a week to write. I'm having some trouble with my eyes at the moment and thanks to the ever so wonderful NHS I can't see a specialist for another two months. I've had a week long migraine and writing is making it worse, so it's taking a little longer to finish chapters. Thanks again for all the reviews and to everyone who's reading. **

Finding Joanna May's son had turned out to be a lot harder than Naomi had first thought. In an age where social networking sites dominated the world, census data was available online and newspaper articles were just a few clicks away, she had presumed finding Chris May would be easy. A search on _Facebook _had brought up dozens of Chris May's in Bristol alone; not to mention the Christophers, Christians, and even Christophe May's that appeared in her search. Then there was the small fact that he might not even live in Bristol anymore. He would be in his late thirties and could have moved anywhere in the world. Naomi let out a heavy sigh as she slammed the screen of her laptop down and rubbed at her aching eyes. It was late in the evening and she had spent most of the afternoon trailing through Facebook profiles, newspaper articles and pop-ups offering her Viagra and the chance to work from home and earn thousands of dollars a week. "I'll try again tomorrow." She caught sight of Emily's worried expression and felt the need to reassure the other girl that she wasn't just giving up.  
"Thank you." The smaller girl managed a small smile as she slipped off the bed. She stretched, though it was purely from habit not physical need. "I'm gonna go try and find Katie for a bit-"  
"Be careful." The words were out of Naomi's mouth before she could really think about them. Emily couldn't help the slighlty bitter laughter that escaped her lips.  
"I think the worst's already happened, don't you?"

Focusing on her twin she disappeared from sight. She was getting better at moving around and ignoring Naomi's energy. Left to her own devices the blonde felt suddenly lonely. Emily had been by her side all afternoon, fidgeting, looking over her shoulder, and constantly questioning her. Naomi made her way downstairs and made herself a cup of sweet milky hot chocolate. It had barely been dark for an hour and she was already tired. Her body was still exhausted from the weekend. Having Emily around had topped up her energy levels, but with the spirit gone she was back to feeling tired and sluggish. She found her mother sitting in the living room and curled up on the sofa beside her.  
"Hello love. Where's Emily?" Gina looked around in case she had missed the small girl hovering around.  
"With her sister." Naomi mumbled over the rim of her cup as she took a drink of her hot chocolate. The liquid was searing hot, warming the pit of her stomach.

"How are you holding up?" Gina shot her daughter one of those seriously concerned looks that only a mother could pull off.  
"Little tired." The blonde shrugged. "Pissed off trying to find this-"  
"Naomi, your friend has died. I meant how are you doing sweetie?" Gina put her hand on the younger blonde's knee. "If you need to talk."  
"I don't." Naomi shrugged her hand off and clutched her hot chocolate; staring at it like it was about to do a disappearing act. "We weren't friends. I just knew her from school."  
"Still, you've been at college what eighteen months now? That's a-"  
"Middle school." Naomi corrected. "I've known her since middle school. We have the same friends. My locker is two down from hers. We said hello nearly every morning. That was it. I never asked her how she was. Not once. We weren't friends. Now she's dead."

"Shame. She's a nice girl." Her mother's voice took on that condescending tone she often had when she was trying to be less than subtle about something. "Nicer than the last girl you brought home." And there it was; Gina Campbell's verbal equivalent to a punch in the face. The younger blonde tried not to grind her teeth in annoyance as she bit back the urge to swear.  
"I didn't exactly bring Sophia here, she followed me home!" She growled out. Her mother knew full well the trouble she'd had getting Sophia to leave her alone after their _thing. _It had started off as a one night stand, though Sophia hadn't seemed to understand that as she'd relentlessly hounded Naomi for weeks, and even months, afterwards. "Emily's dead mum, it's a little late to be playing match maker." The younger blonde huffed. She hated it when her mother tried to interfere in her love life. The amount of times Gina Campbell had brought random teenage lesbians home from protests and political demonstrations defied belief.

Naomi had wanted to ask her mother for help in finding Rebecca May's son, but Gina's dig at her had put her in a foul mood as usual and she suddenly wanted nothing more than to escape from the living room and climb in to bed. Gina had other plans. "How's Emily doing then? Has she remembered any more yet?" The younger blonde shook her head in response, hoping her mother would take the hint that she didn't want to talk. "Poor thing. Not even eighteen." Gina shook her head dismally, as though the most tragic part of Emily's death was her age. The girl had more than likely been killed, her precious life ripped away from her body. Whether she was eighteen or eighty it wouldn't have been any less tragic. Emily was sweet and kind. She was loyal and trusting. Naomi had never heard her say a bad word about anyone, and yet someone had taken her life. Sometimes the world seemed to be a brutally unfair place.

"She says she doesn't remember anything." Naomi finally gave in and started talking again. As much as her mother annoyed her sometimes she was the only person Naomi could talk to about spirits without being looked at like a mental case. She bit her lip before adding, "I think she's lying. I think she remembers something, but she's not telling me."  
"Sometimes, when a death is particularly painful, the spirits don't want to remember. Maybe Emily's still in shock from what happened to her. Or maybe she…" Gina trailed off, debating her words. Naomi could see the turmoil in her face.  
"Or?" She urged her to continue, knowing she wouldn't like the answer she was about to hear.  
"Or maybe she can't accept what she remembers so she's repressing it, covering for the person who hurt her." The idea of Emily protecting whoever had hurt her was enough to make the blonde feel sick. The idea that maybe Emily had known her killer was enough to turn her stomach all together.

Across the city, in the bedroom the twins had shared for most of their lives, Katie Fitch sat huddled on her bed, her phone pressed to her ear. The police had been questioning her again that afternoon, trying to understand why Emily had run off on Friday night. Katie had admitted they had argued; she had also watched how the younger detective's eyes had narrowed at her in response and she could almost see the gears turning in his mind as he weighed her up as a suspect. The older detective, a plump middle aged woman with a kind smile had quizzed what they had argued over. Katie had lied. She'd had to. With her parents sitting beside her in the living room she could hardly admit they had been arguing over Effy.

She lay in the dark, whispering to Effy as her parents tiptoed around the house downstairs, believing she had gone to bed for an early night. Emily sat on her own bed, listening to Katie's side of the conversation like some sort of voyeur. "I'm really worried Eff…I just wish you were here with me babes. I'm not strong on my own. I've always had Ems…I'm not losing it, I'm just not used to sleeping on my own." Even before the birth of their younger brother the twins had shared a room. Neither of them were used to going to sleep without the presence of someone else in the room. Getting up off her own bed Emily walked over to Katie's and lay down beside her. She focused all of her energy on letting her twin know she was not alone. Katie stiffened as the temperature in the room dropped. She felt something lingering beside her, even though she knew she was alone in the darkness. Her lip quivered as her eyes began to water. She clutched the phone tighter as she began to sob. "Effy. I think she's dead. I can feel it."

Her attempt at reassurance had ended up upsetting Katie more and so Emily slipped out of the room, leaving Effy to reassure her over the phone. She supposed now she was dead it would be Effy's job to look after Katie. It was slightly reassuring to know Effy would be there to take care of her twin. As brassy and confident as Katie was she didn't do being alone very well. People like Naomi had presumed Emily had been a doormat for her older twin, but in truth she had stayed by Katie's side out of love, not shyness. She had sacrificed her happiness for Katie's; knowing that by the end of the college year she would get to leave Bristol behind. She had planned on travelling over the summer, before eventually going to university. None of that would happen now.

After checking on her parents, her mother was crying over the kitchen sink and her father was sat in the garage with a bottle of ten year old single malt, she returned to the Campbell household. It was late by the time she arrived back in Naomi's bedroom and the blonde was tucked up in bed. She looked peaceful when she slept. Emily had noticed the difference in her face the night before as she had watched her sleep. Awake, even with her frowning and her sneers, Naomi Campbell was beautiful. Asleep, with her face peaceful and her defences down, she was breath taking. Emily lay down beside her as she had done the night before. The blonde didn't stir; she was oblivious to the other girl's presence.

She had always been oblivious when it came to Emily. They had known each other since middle school, and long before Emily had even realised she was gay she'd had a crush on the other girl. They'd spoken a handful of times and gone to the same parties, but they'd gone to different high schools. Emily had been practically giddy the first day of college when she'd caught sight of her in the sports hall. Fate had seemed to be on her side when they had been assigned to the same form as well. Emily had thought college would be a fresh start. A chance to reinvent herself, to get a little distance from her twin. She had even talked herself in to approaching Naomi, but then fate had intervened and she had found herself face to face with Effy Stonem instead. The mysterious brunette had locked her piercing blue eyes on the smaller girl and shot her a smirk. The rest was history.

Emily lay her head down on the pillow beside Naomi's. She knew she couldn't sleep, but the familiarity of lying in bed was comforting. She could feel Naomi beside her, though the sensation wasn't physical, she could feel the other girl's life force like a soft warm blanket, wrapping itself around the smaller girl's spirit. Her eyes felt heavy and though she didn't need to sleep she felt exhausted. Her eyes closed and she struggled to open them again. When she did she found she was lying on damp grass. Frowning she pushed herself up to her feet. For a moment she thought she might have transported herself somewhere. She had been thinking about Effy, maybe her tired mind had sought her out. Except it was the middle of the day. She wasn't sure how she had lost so much time in the blink of an eye. Hearing voices up ahead she followed the sound until she came to a group of people. They were crowded around a large hole in the ground. A priest stood at the front of them. As Emily looked around she expected to find herself in a graveyard. In actuality she was standing in a park. There were children laughing and playing on a swing set nearby.

The group of people were all dressed sombrely in black as they huddled together in the drizzling rain and buried someone in a child's park. Emily stood out like a sore thumb in her brightly coloured shirt and tights. She recognised a familiar face at the front and pushed through the small crowd to reach her. "Effy?" She reached out for the girl out of instinct. She was surprised when Effy turned around to face her; she took her hand and silently pulled Emily in front of her so she was leaning against her chest. "What's going on?" Effy's arms wrapped around her waist and held her tight as she nodded towards the hole in the ground.

Emily's eyes widened as she caught a flash of blonde in the makeshift grave. "Naomi!" She lurched forward as she realised Naomi was on her feet and clawing at the sides of the hole. The earth was just collapsing under her fingernails, spilling in to the hole. "Naomi!" She screamed again as Effy's hands clamped painfully around her wrists, keeping her in place.  
"Emily!" The blonde started screaming back to her as she realised Emily was there. "Help me! I'm not dead! I'm not dead!" The other girl clawed desperately at the side of the grave, but the hole was too deep and the soggy mud was slipping away from her. Emily clawed just as desperately at Effy's hands, but the other girl was holding on to her with a vice like grip and she couldn't break free. Effy's voice was cold and flat in her ear as she spoke.  
"She's dead Emily. Let her go." Effy's lips were cold as they latched on to her neck. She started trying to kiss her as her hands roamed over her body.  
"Get off me!" Emily cried out in disgust and pushed the taller girl away with everything she had. Dropping to her knees by the collapsing grave she held out her hand for Naomi. "Take my hand!" She shouted as the earth began to slide and rushed in to the hole, burying the blonde alive.

Naomi's hand scrambled to reach Emily's as her feet began to slip on the soggy ground. There were tears streaming down her face and she was starting to get hysterical as she struggled to reach the other girl's hand. Emily leant as far forward as she could without falling in herself. When that wasn't enough she went for broke and flung herself forward to grab Naomi's hand. Their fingers grasped each other for a single second before the world turned to chaos. The side of the hole began to collapse completely, throwing Emily down in to the grave with the blonde. She started screaming along with Naomi, the funeral patrons watched on oblivious as the girls were buried alive under endless mounds of earth.

Emily was still screaming when her eyes snapped open and she found herself in Naomi's room. The blonde was beside her on the bed again. Her face was pale and her body was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Her hands were shaking as she held them in front of her face. Gina burst in to the room and looked torn between which girl to see to. "Stop screaming!" Naomi shouted harshly as she finally pulled her hands away from her face.  
"What the hell was that?" Emily demanded as she calmed herself down and faced the blonde.  
"It was a dream." Naomi grumbled.  
"A dream? But that felt so real! I could touch you-"

"Come on Emily." Gina ushered her away from her daughter, recognizing the signs that Naomi was about to blow. As moody as her daughter could be during the day, it was nothing to the sour moods she could get after a nightmare.  
"No!" Emily objected, sick of tip toeing around the other girl. She wanted some proper answers for a change. "What the hell was that? I fell asleep and when I woke up you were getting fucking buried-"  
"You didn't fall asleep! You invaded my fucking dream ok? Stay the fuck out of my head Emily." The blonde sneered.  
"That's what you dream about?" Emily snapped back, her own temper short after the trauma of being buried alive in the other girl's dream. "You have one fucked up head Naomi Campbell." She finally relented and followed Gina downstairs, leaving the blonde to mope on her own.

"She's upset too love." Gina scorned the youngest twin as she grumbled about Naomi being a bitch. "Naomi's a very private person, and going inside someone's dream is very personal-"  
"I didn't do it on purpose!" Emily objected, though it was more of a sulk as she slumped on to the sofa and folded her arms across her chest. "Trust me; I don't want to be inside her head. It's fucking scary. Do you know she dreams about being buried alive-"  
"I know." Gina sighed. "She's had that nightmare since she was a little girl. Naomi didn't exactly have a normal childhood. I was helping the spirit of a woman who had been buried alive. Naomi overheard the ghost speaking to me about waking up in her own coffin. Dying inside it with no one to hear her screaming. It's been her biggest fear ever since…and if you tell her I told you that she'll never speak to me again."

"I won't." Emily promised, her anger had completely slipped away. She suddenly understood the blonde's troubled mind a little better. "But how did I get inside her dream? I wasn't even trying!"  
"Spirits can generally connect with a person's unconscious mind, though it usually takes a while before they're powerful enough to do that. Not a few days. It shows you're very strong Emily."  
"I can't remember what happened to me, after leaving the club everything's a blur…I'm not strong." Emily scoffed. "I can't even see other ghosts."  
"You'll get there love." Gina offered her a motherly smile as she tried to reassure her. Behind her kind smile there was a flicker of doubt in her eyes. Something was off with the tiny spirit perched on her sofa. Spirits only tended not to see the others around them when they weren't aware they were dead, and young spirits didn't just go about falling in to people's dreams. "I'm off to bed; you can come in to my dream if you don't mind being a third circus clown?" Emily laughed and shook her head. Slipping in to Gina's bizarre dreams sounded better than spending the night awake and alone.

As much as she had denied it she would rather have spent the night in Naomi's head. As terrified as she had been by Naomi's nightmare, her heart had skipped a beat when her hand had latched on to the other girls. After four days of being dead it felt good to touch something solid, even if it was only in Naomi's mind. It had felt real enough at the time. She would try and make amends with the other girl in the morning. With a little luck she might even get an invite back in to Naomi's dreams.


	7. Chapter 7

"You off to college love?" Gina quizzed as Naomi held a slice of toast between her lips and shoved books in to her bag.  
"No. I'm taking my text books for a walk." The blonde snapped, still in a foul mood from a night of restless sleep. "I've got exams in a few months, I can't afford to keep missing days…where the fuck is my book on Social Policy?"  
"You put it in your locker after Friday's lesson." Emily answered from the other side of the room. She was sat on one of the kitchen benches, her legs dangling above the ground as she kept Gina company at the breakfast table. She had deliberately kept her distance from the blonde all morning, unsure of what mood she would be in when she woke up. As it turned out she had been right to avoid her.  
"Great, you remember where I leave my books, but not what happened to you. Real helpful Emily."  
"Naomi!" Gina scorned as Emily's face fell and she disappeared from sight. "That poor girl is going through hell at the moment!"

Naomi sighed as she slammed her book bag down and pinched the bridge of her nose. She'd woken up with a pounding headache and it was getting worse as the morning went on. She hadn't meant to take her frustration out on Emily. Again. "I'll apologise to her, ok?" She snapped at her mother in a less than apologetic tone before storming out of the house.

When she arrived at college she found Emily standing by her locker, as if it were any normal Wednesday morning and the other girl was collecting her things before registration. Except nothing about their situation was normal. Emily had been dead for almost five days and her extremely huffed spirit was lingering by Naomi's locker instead of her own. Naomi walked up to her and jammed her locker key in to the lock before yanking it open and shoving her books inside. Her book on Social Policy was sitting on top of the mess already inside, just like Emily had said. "You know what I wish?" She asked, her attention still on her locker as she wrestled with the mountain of junk that was threatening to spill out of it. It was still early and the hallway was deserted so she didn't have to worry about looking like she was talking to herself. Emily didn't reply, but the blonde carried on regardless. "I wish I didn't have nightmares about being buried alive, and I wish I couldn't see ghosts and I wasn't cursed with all this shit…but most of all I wish I could stop being such a bitch to you." It was the closest Emily would get to an apology and the smaller girl reluctantly took it as she finally started talking to her again.  
"I wish I wasn't dead…I guess no one's getting what they wish for." She replied sadly. Something caught her eye at the end of the corridor and she cocked her head towards it. "Is that girl watching you?"

Naomi didn't need to turn around to know who it would be, and as she followed Emily's gaze she wasn't surprised to find Sophia lurking by the lockers. The blonde foolishly made eye contact with her and that was all the other girl needed to rush up and start talking to her. "Hi Naomi!" She smiled brightly, her eyes wide with wonder as though Naomi was some foreign goddess, not a stroppy teenager desperately trying to think of a way to get rid of her.

"Hey." She replied with little enthusiasm as she slammed her locker shut.  
"How are you? Only I didn't see you in History yesterday, I thought you might be sick." The other girl was standing far too close for comfort as she leant in to Naomi, studying her with concern as she looked for any signs of her being unwell. Naomi took a discrete step back, though regretted it as an icy chill shot through her body. Emily scowled and disappeared from the spot she'd been standing in. She reappeared behind Sophia.  
"I'm fine." The blonde dismissed Sophia's concern. "Had a late night Monday. Emily Fitch has gone missing; we were all out looking for her."  
"Oh. She's the one seeing that Effy girl isn't she?" Sophia took it upon herself to fall in to step with Naomi as she started walking towards her form room. Trying not to encourage her to carry on talking Naomi just nodded. "Shame, she was nice."  
"Look I've got to go Sophia. I'll see you later yeah?" Naomi knew she'd said the wrong thing when Sophia's eyes lit up and she eagerly repeated she would see the blonde later. That was all she needed, Sophia stalking her again. "Great. She'll be fucking following me home again." Naomi huffed as she sank in to her seat.  
"Who will?"

Naomi jumped as the unexpected voice came from over by the desk. For the first time in history Kieran was at his desk before any of his students. He was usually the last one trudging through the door. Though the mountain of coursework he was surrounded by probably explained what he was doing. "Oh, just this girl, Sophia Moore." She shrugged it off as her heart stopped pounding in her chest.  
"Her." Kieran replied, his Irish accent adding a few extra r's to the word. "She's a weird little fucker isn't she?" Naomi snorted with laughter. There was a reason Kieran was her favourite teacher. She'd bored him silly months ago about the story of Sophia and her stalking as they'd sat huddled on the stairs outside the college, puffing away on his roll ups. She sat on his desk, helping him grade the year twelve's coursework until the form room began to fill up. She slipped over to her usual table beside Cook and JJ.

"Hey Blondie." Cook offered her a cautious smile. "Look about the other night-"  
"Forget it, yeah?" Cook was as good with apologies as she was and neither wanted another argument. "Have you heard anything more about Emily?"  
"Coppers got her phone working. I was the last one she called. They want to talk me." He shrugged like it was no big deal, but Naomi could read her friend like an open book. Cook was worried.  
"They're wasting their fucking time interviewing us!" Katie snapped from the table behind them. "Two hours they were at our house last night! They should be out looking for Ems!"  
"They'll find her." Effy's voice was firm and calm as she put her arm around the smaller girl sitting beside her. Panda sat on the other side of her, patting her shoulder like she didn't know what else to do. Katie's face said it all. She knew her sister was dead.

Naomi had read about twin ESP and considering her own abilities she was willing to put stock in there being something to the claim that twins could feel each other's pain. Maybe Katie really could feel Emily's loss. Naomi could certainly feel Katie's pain. The other girl's grief and anguish washed over her in dizzying waves. The atmosphere in the entire room was one of hope and despair. It choked the blonde as she absorbed everyone else's mood. She was grateful when the bell went for first lesson and she scrambled out of the room. She didn't get very far as she slammed in to a portly woman. She wore a cheap black suit under a navy trench coat. Everything about her screamed cop. Her smile was warm, but her eyes were hard as they stared down at her. "In a hurry?"

"I've got class." Naomi shifted her bag from one shoulder to another.  
"Naoms! Wait up!" Cook caught up to her in the corridor. His eyes narrowed at the female cop and the tall skinny man behind her.  
"Mr Cook. Just the young man I was looking for. And I suppose that makes you Naomi Campbell? Can you both come with me please?" The senior detective led them to an empty classroom where they had set up a couple of desks with a laptop on to take notes. The lanky detective sat behind the laptop as the woman took the seat beside him, leaving Naomi and Cook the two empty chairs facing her. Once they were settled the woman introduced herself and her partner. "Right, I'm DS Blunt and this is DC Sweeney. You obviously know why we're here. Emily Fitch went missing Friday night; she was on her way to the club you two were in. We'll forget about the underage drinking for now shall we-"  
"We're bot eighteen." Naomi interrupted, her big mouth landing her in trouble as usual. DC Blunt narrowed her eyes at her.  
"I'm seventeen." Emily helpfully supplied from where she sat perched on the desk beside Naomi. "Katie and I don't turn eighteen till June…well Katie will. Oh god I'm going to be seventeen forever. Like Edward Cullen, only with less gay hair."

Naomi discretely rolled her eyes. Of course Emily Fitch was the Twilight type. "So, let's start with a few easy questions. Like how close you two were to Emily? Did she often leave her sister and girlfriend to meet you two?" Naomi didn't like the tone the older woman was using.  
"We're not close. We go to the same parties, say hello in the morning…she's closer to JJ. That's who she was meeting." She made sure to watch how she spoke, referring to Emily in the present tense so as not to arouse the detective's suspicion. The last thing she wanted was to become suspect number one. Though from the way Blunt was glaring at her she was guessing she and Cook were pretty high on the list.

"JJ? That's Jeremiah Jones. We spoke to Mr Jones earlier this morning. He said he left the club an hour before Emily called you. So _James, _can you explain why Emily phoned you, and not JJ? She did have his number didn't she? And why, if JJ had already left, did she leave her sister and her girlfriend behind to come to the club you were in anyway?" As the detective's questions sunk in Naomi could feel the apprehension and guilt radiating from Cook's body. He was playing with the hem of his shirt, his eyes on the floor. Naomi felt a lump forming in her throat as her mother's words returned to haunt her. What if Emily knew her killer? What if she was protecting him? The blonde nervously tried to catch Emily's eye as she waited for Cook to answer. She couldn't imagine her best friend ever hurting Emily, but she couldn't ignore the guilt he was feeling either.  
"You don't know what the fuck you're talking about." Cook growled. His cheeks were red with anger as he shoved his hands in to his pockets. "She wasn't meeting JJ, alright?"

Blunt wasn't fazed by his angry reaction; she sat calmly in her chair and waited for him to elaborate. When he didn't she tried to probe. "So who was she meeting? The Easter bunny?" Naomi was as much in the dark as the detectives. Emily squirmed uncomfortably on the desk, her eyes locked on Cook and willing him not to answer. Cook looked torn between answering truthfully and making something up. Naomi wasn't sure whether he was protecting himself or Emily. "Mr Cook-"  
"It was Naomi alright!" He finally spat her name out. "She phoned to see if Naomi was with me. She wanted to talk to her."  
"What?" It was Naomi's turn to question him after his outburst. Emily had even told her she was going to see JJ. "Why the fuck would she be coming to see me?" Cook rang his hands together as he wrestled with his conscience. He had made Emily a promise.  
"Mr Cook?"

"Don't you fucking dare Cook!" Emily shouted at him angrily as he opened his mouth to speak. He couldn't hear her, but Naomi could. She narrowed her eyes at the smaller girl. She had known Emily was holding something back from her, just as Cook was. He finally looked Naomi in the eye before shaking his head.  
"You don't have fucking clue, do you Blondie?" He sighed, ignoring the detectives in the room. "Ems fancied you ok? She used to wait by your locker every fucking morning just to say hello to you-"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Naomi felt her chest tightening and her head spinning. When had Emily ever shown an interest in her? Sure she had always been friendly, always trying to talk to her, but she was with Effy. Emily was glaring daggers at Cook and refusing to meet Naomi's eye.  
"She's had a thing for you since middle school Naomi! You were always too fucking up yourself to notice!"  
"So she was on her way to meet Naomi?" Blunt interrupted their arguing and reminded them she was still in the room.  
"She was gonna tell her how she felt." Every word Cook spoke had Emily's cheeks growing redder and redder. "When Naoms left the club I thought she'd seen Emily."  
"I didn't see her." Naomi mumbled before Blunt could even ask.

"So, Emily confided in you that she was attracted to Naomi. Did her girlfriend know about this? Is that why they argued that night? Was she jealous?" Blunt pressed on; ignoring the fact that Naomi was practically hyperventilating as she tried to digest what Cook had just admitted to her. Emily had disappeared from sight before Cook could say anything else to embarrass her. He shook his head again; his aura was still troubled as he held on to his last secret.  
"Effy had nothing to be jealous about."  
"I think we'd best talk to Miss Stonem again-"  
"Effy would never hurt Ems! She fucking loves that girl man!" Cook tried to defend the other girl. Naomi was too distracted by her own thoughts to even think about the possibility of Effy being involved in Emily's death. Her niggling headache had turned in to a full blown migraine.

"People do silly things when they're in love. Especially when they think they're about to lose someone-" DS Blunt made to stand up, but Cook stopped her in her tracks.  
"She was never seeing Emily!" Naomi scoffed at that. She'd seen Effy snogging Emily's face off countless times. Everybody in college knew they were an item. "She's Katie's girlfriend. Not Emily's. Katie didn't want anyone knowing she's gay, so Ems agreed to cover for them. She told people she was seeing Eff. But then Ems got sick of it. She wanted to tell Naomi the truth. That's why she and Katie argued- Naoms!" Cook called after his best friend as she fled from the room. She couldn't sit there and listen to him anymore. She'd heard enough from him. She wanted to hear it from Emily.

She knew the little redhead hadn't gone far. She could still sense her nearby. It took a while but she finally tracked the wayward spirit down to their politics class. Kieran barely acknowledged her as she slipped inside the classroom and took her usual seat. She couldn't exactly talk to Emily in a class full of people, so she had to wait for the lesson to end. Emily pointedly ignored her. She sat in her usual seat beside Effy. As the lesson went on Naomi snuck glances at Effy and Katie. The more she watched them the more she questioned how she had missed they were an item. The little interactions between them, the tiny secret reassuring smiles and the way Effy seemed to constantly be touching her all mounted up to support what Cook had claimed. Effy and Katie were in love.

**Thanks again to everyone who's reading and for all the awesome reviews! I'm glad people are enjoying this and hope you'll all like what I've got planned! So my migraine's finally gone, and while my vision is still screwed I can**** hopefully**** start writing a bit more :) **


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Apologies for the lack of updates over the last couple of weeks. I went back to work two weeks ago and didn't feel up to writing, and I spent most of last week down South for a work conference thing, where no one could understand my accent, so had two very quiet and long coach journeys to write. Hopefully this chapter makes up for two weeks of nothing! _

Naomi had to hand it to Emily. She was pretty persistent when she set her mind to something; and it was clear she had set her mind on avoiding Naomi like the plague. She had stuck to Katie's side all day long, knowing the other girl would not try and talk to her while other people were around; especially her twin. The last thing Naomi needed was for Katie Fitch to start a rumour about her being some sort of freak who spoke to dead people. Even if said rumour were factually true.

After Katie and Effy came back from speaking to the detectives again Emily hovered by Effy's side, refusing to meet Naomi's gaze. Katie on the other hand had no intention of shying away from the blonde. She cornered Naomi as she was going for her last class of the day. "Don't even think about telling anyone about me and Effy!" She snarled at the other girl as she blocked her way.  
"I don't give a fuck who you're shagging Katie!" Naomi snapped back just as ferociously. It was the truth.

She didn't care that Katie Fitch was too ashamed to admit that she was with Effy. She didn't even care why Effy, and Emily for that matter, had gone along with her. The only thing she was concerned with was finding out if what Cook had told her about Emily liking her was true. Though the more she had thought about it during the course of the day the more she thought he could be right. From the shy smiles and mumbled hellos, to the countless times the little redhead had been standing by her locker; almost waiting for Naomi to show up.

As it turned out she didn't need Emily to confirm anything. Katie did it for her. "As for Ems fancying you, don't let it go to your head Campbell. She has really _shit_taste." With an insincere smirk and a flutter of her fake eyelashes Katie Fitch turned to walk away, effectively dismissing the stunned blonde. Naomi's shock didn't last long. Quickly finding her voice again she reached out and caught Katie's arm, stopping her in her tracks. Effy, who had been making her way down the corridor towards her secret lover, stopped. Emily hovered uncertainly beside her. Effy's piercing eyes narrowed in to a glare and Naomi quickly let her hand drop from Katie's arm. She didn't need Effy as an enemy too.

Her voice was still firm as she demanded, "Why do you hate me so much Katie? What did I_ ever _do to you?" The other girl's answer was like a hard slap to the face. Her face scrunched up in disgust as she looked the blonde up and down.  
"Because you're not good enough for my sister." She sneered, as though Naomi had done something to encourage Emily's attention.

Outside it was foggy and overcast, with thick grey rain clouds choking the sky. The lights in the hallway flickered ominously as Naomi snapped back at the oldest twin.  
"Yeah, because you're so concerned about Emily's welfare! You fucking used her!" Katie stared at her for what seemed like an age, before her furrowed brow smoothed out and a self-satisfied smirk spread over her lips.

"Kept her away from you though, didn't it?"  
"Katie!" Effy and Emily screamed in unison, though only one girl's voice reached her ears as the light above her exploded. Naomi stood there in a stunned silence, watching as shards of glass rained down on the spot Katie had just been standing in. Had Effy not reacted so quickly and shoved her out of harm's way then the glass tinkling harmlessly to the floor would have sliced its way through Katie's delicate skin, ripping it to shreds.

Katie was beside herself, screaming and sobbing in to Effy's shoulder as the other girl held her tightly. Effy was staring at Naomi, an unreadable expression on her face. She had no way of knowing Naomi's anger had been responsible for bringing the light down, but the accusation in her eyes was clear. Emily too was staring at her in horror. Her wide brown eyes were full of fear and shock. Naomi felt her heart breaking as for the first time in her life Emily Fitch looked at her like she was a freak.

She made her escape as fast as her legs would carry her away from the scene of devastation. The second she was outside she dropped to her knees on the damp grass and relieved herself of everything she had eaten that day. She was still retching long after her stomach was empty. She hadn't meant to try and hurt Katie. Her anger had gotten the better of her, fuelling her energy and the force of her hatred had shattered the light without her consent. If there was one thing Naomi hated more than losing her temper it was losing control.

Once her legs stopped feeling like jelly she was able to stand. Brushing off the grass and dirt from her knees she managed to pull herself to together enough to make it to the bus stop. It was only once she walked through her front door that she allowed herself to break down again. She slumped down to the floor as she heard Gina calling out to her. Her throat felt like it was swollen shut as she tried to choke out a response. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and it was only as her mother gasped at the sight of her, and started trying to soothe her, that she realised the strangled sobs she could hear were escaping from her own lips.

Even after she'd calmed down, and Gina had forced some hot milky tea down her, she wasn't able to explain what had upset her so much. Gina knew when to push her daughter and when to leave her be. It had been a long time since she had seen her so distraught and as much as she wanted to comfort her fiercely independent daughter she knew she had as much chance of Naomi confiding in her as Greenpeace endorsing nuclear energy. She sent the younger blonde to bed with another cup of tea and decided she'd have more luck talking to Emily.

It was some time later when she felt another presence slip in to the house with them. "Hello love." She looked up from the book in her lap to find Emily lingering by the sofa. "Been with your sister?" She had been surprised to find Naomi alone when she had returned home and presumed Emily's absence had something to do with the state she was in. Using all of her motherly cunning she tried to probe the younger girl for information.  
"Yes." Emily replied a little shortly. In the short time Gina had known her she had never heard her use such an abrupt tone.  
"Is everything ok dear?"

"No!" Emily sulked as she took a seat on the floor in front of Gina. Her eyes were wide and it was clear she had been crying. "Katie almost got hurt today, and it was Naomi's fault! She made a light explode over her head!"  
"I'm sure it wasn't on purpose. Naomi doesn't have a lot of control at the moment Emily. Especially when she's upset. Did Katie do or say something to upset her?" Gina kept her voice low and level as she spoke to the distraught spirit, aware her daughter was just out of ear shot upstairs.  
"She said some pretty harsh things." Emily admitted with a sheepish shrug, her anger wavering as she thought back to what Katie had said to the other girl. She had been ashamed of her twin then, but Naomi hadn't been entirely blameless. "She just ran off though! Didn't even check if Katie was ok!"  
"She was pretty upset when she got back here." Gina defended her troubled daughter. "Naomi doesn't take losing control of anything particularly well…you should see her when I beat her at Scrabble." A warm smile spread over Gina's lips as Emily managed a small chuckle. "Give her a chance Emily. She's as scared as you in all of this."

Emily sighed but nodded all the same. She had given Naomi countless chances; even if the blonde wasn't aware of them. She had fancied the other girl for as long as she could remember being attracted to girls. Naomi had always seemed oblivious. Finding out about Emily's attraction to her from Cook couldn't have been easy; and Emily avoiding her for the day probably hadn't helped matters. Katie's snarky remarks had quite clearly been the last nail in the coffin for the agitated blonde and her anger had gotten the better of her. It wasn't like she had intended to hurt Katie.

Thanking Gina for talking things through with her, something she would never have been able to do with her own mother while living or dead, she slipped upstairs to finally confront Naomi. She had been fairly out of it on Friday night, drunk on too much wine and the confidence Naomi had instilled in her that afternoon by paying attention to her. She had lit up when the blonde had taken a seat beside her in their Sociology class and after her row with Katie she had made up her mind. She was going to tell Naomi Campbell she fancied her.

Except life had a funny way of being unfair and she had died before reaching the other girl. Her drunken resolution had evaporated as soon as the sobering reality of being dead had really hit her. Having Cook blurt out her deepest darkest secrets had been something of an embarrassing nightmare and the redhead had been far from ready to face Naomi and her accusing glare. She owed her the truth though. She needed to understand why Emily had carried a torch for her for so long, and why she had pretended to be Effy's girlfriend to cover for Katie.

Inside Naomi's room the curtains were drawn over and the thick darkness that had settled in every corner of the room had wrapped itself around Naomi. Only her vibrant blonde hair and pale cheeks were identifiable as they stuck out from under her duvet. She looked peaceful, with no hint of nightmares plaguing her slumber. Deciding against waking her up Emily slipped on to the bed beside her, careful not to invade her dreams as she lay down on top of the covers and closed her eyes. It was a pale imitation of sleeping as she lay in the darkness, mindful not to slip in to Naomi's unconscious mind. The last thing she wanted was to cause the other girl any more anxiety. After all she had made it quite clear Emily was not welcome inside her head. Whether she was still welcome in her life at all would be debatable. She would just have to hope the blonde woke up in a good mood.

When Naomi woke up some time later, in the early hours of a particularly cold Thursday morning, she was neither in a good nor bad mood. She was in the in-between state of being awake and being asleep. The happy medium where, for just a few seconds, it felt like she didn't have a care in the world. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and focused on Emily's still form lying beside her. The other girl was facing her, with her eyes closed and her chest rising and falling as though she was asleep. She reached out to touch the other girl, momentarily forgetting she was a ghost. Emily's eyes startled open as Naomi's hand fell straight through her. The pair shivered from the sensation.

"Hey." Naomi mumbled, still only half awake as she ran a hand through her hair and then let her head flop back on to the pillow.  
"Hi." Emily replied cautiously, unsure what kind of mood the other girl had woken up in. Naomi was not a morning person at the best of times, never mind after the bombshell Cook had dropped on her the day before. Emily had genuinely expected the other girl to start screaming at her. As it was she lay snuggled under the duvet, quite happy for Emily to be lying beside her.  
"Emily?" The redhead sighed softly, knowing what was coming next. "How did you know you were gay?" So that wasn't quite what she had been expecting Naomi to ask her. Even if she wasn't screaming at her to leave her alone she had expected the blonde to bring up the small matter of Emily fancying her.

"I guess the first time I realised was when I had this massive crush on mine and Katie's babysitter. I was nine… Shut up!" Emily laughed as Naomi buried her face in her arm began giggling hysterically.  
"Nine? You perv!" Emily felt her cheeks burning, quickly matching the colour of her hair. Why did ghosts need to be able to blush anyway?

"It was a stupid crush." The smaller girl tried to defend herself, a small smile playing on her lips at the sight of a still sleepy Naomi giggling away in bed, her tousled blonde hair framing her face and her eyes still glazed from sleep. When she was alive she would have given anything for a chance to see Naomi the way she was just then, with all of her usual guards and attitude missing. "I guess the first time that really counted was when I got a crush on a girl in middle school." Emily knew she was skating on thin ice by bringing the subject up, but even after Cook's confession the other girl didn't seem to know Emily was talking about _her. __  
__  
_"I kissed a girl in middle school." Naomi admitted with a heavy sigh as she rolled on to her back and stared up at the ceiling. It was clear her mind was elsewhere. "It was at this house party. We were all celebrating the last day of term. I was completely wasted…I went off to get some space upstairs and I found this girl crying in one of the rooms." With her gaze firmly on the ceiling Naomi failed to see Emily's eyes lighting up beside her.

"We talked for a bit. It was nice. Then she kissed me…and it was more than nice." The blonde's lips were curved up in to a genuine smile. "Best night of my life that party. Sad I know." She cast a glance at Emily before adding. "I don't even remember her name." There was a sadness in her voice, as though she had desperately tried to remember the events of the party.  
"That's too bad." Emily sighed, her own voice laced with a heavy sadness. "You didn't try and find out who she was?"

Naomi laughed a strange, short hollow laughter that sounded as bitter as the words that followed. "Until that night I thought I was straight. I was too busy having a mental breakdown to go chasing after Cinderella."  
"I've always accepted I was gay." Emily shrugged, unsure what it would feel like to fight against everything she felt. Emily may have hidden her feelings for the other girl, but she had always accepted them. From the moment they had shared a drunken kiss in a stranger's house she had been head over heels for Naomi Campbell. Just because she was the only one who seemed to remember it didn't mean it meant any less.  
"Emily, I was a teenage psychic who was trying to ignore the fact that she could see dead people. I think I was different enough, don't you?" Naomi rolled her eyes as she sat herself up in bed.

"You seem ok with it now. I mean, you were with Sophia-"  
"I was not with Sophia!" Naomi snapped. "It was a one off thing, haven't you ever had a drunken shag you regretted? Oh god, you haven't have you?" Naomi read the embarrassment on the other girl's face. The smaller girl shook her head as her eyes dropped to the floor. "Ever?" Again Emily shook her head.  
"Jesus Ems, you're a-"  
"Yes. I am, alright!" Emily finally spoke up. It was embarrassing enough to have died a virgin without Naomi making a big deal out of it. "I never had a proper girlfriend did I? There were girls in clubs, but I was supposed to be with Effy, so it never went further, ok?"

"I wasn't taking the piss." Naomi sounded sincere as she apologised to the defensive redhead. "I was just surprised is all. I mean, you're…"  
"Yes?" Emily quizzed, a hint of a smile on her lips as she waited for the blonde to finish what she was going to say.  
"Well you're…I mean…I need a shower." Naomi flustered as she kicked the covers away and scrambled to her feet.  
"Do you often shower at four a.m.?" The blonde stopped in her tracks as Emily's voice came out as a hoarse accusation. "Are we going to talk about what Cook told you yesterday?"  
"No." Naomi answered honestly, answering both of her questions at once. "I don't want to sound like a bitch Emily, but I already feel guilty enough without having _this _conversation. I just _can't._ Ok?" She didn't wait for an answer as she slipped quietly out of the room.

When she returned she was a little surprised to find Emily still sitting on her bed. She had expected the other girl to have left in a sulk, but she sat perched exactly where Naomi had left her. Conscious of the fact that she was only wearing a towel she felt Emily's eyes follow her across the room to her wardrobe. She kept the towel in place as she got dressed, years of dressing in front of Cook and his wandering eyes coming in useful. The silence in the room as she changed was deafening and she found herself quizzing Emily as she pulled her jeans up. "So how did Katie and Effy happen then? Katie always struck me as the homophobic type."

"She is." Emily admitted with a sigh. Her twin had not been quite as accepting of her sexuality as Emily had been, but fate had thrown Effy in to their lives and the oldest twin had not been able to resist her. It had started off as a friendship, with Katie trying to befriend the infamous Tony Stonem's sister the first week of college. Slowly over the months the pair had become inseparable, Katie taking over Panda's position as Effy's best friend. Back then there had been nothing more between them than the odd drunken snog, which hardly had Katie questioning her sexuality; but then Effy had hit rock bottom and Katie found herself picking up the pieces of the broken girl. As strong and mysterious as Effy appeared there were times when Emily was convinced the only thing holding her together was Katie. "The rumours about Effy trying to kill herself, and me finding her, they're not true…Katie found her. Effy was in a pretty messed up way. Her brother had left, her mum had cheated on her dad and well her dad's just a cunt in general…She'd only cut one wrist when Katie found her, and it wasn't that deep. The scar's barely noticeable now. Anyway, Katie cleaned her up and took care of her. They take care of each other, you know?" Naomi nodded as she pulled on a thick jumper and tied back her hair.

"You can't tell anyone any of this. Not about Katie, or Effy! Effy's better now. She had therapy and she has Katie, but if anyone finds out-"  
"Ems, relax. I'll take it to the grave, ok?" Naomi assured the smaller girl. Her eyes widened in horror as she realised what she had just said to the ghost. "Shit. Sorry. I meant… Fuck… I'm a horrible person aren't I?" Emily chuckled as she shook her head. The blonde was terribly cute when she was flustered and embarrassed.  
"It's fine. Where are you going anyway?"

The other girl was definitely dressed for going outside as she pulled a short leather jacket over her jumper and zipped it all the way up. It was still practically the middle of the night yet Naomi was pulling her trainers on. "To the canal." She answered as though it were the most obvious place in the world.  
"Why? Rebecca won't talk to us and neither will her mum. We need to find her brother and-"  
"Bristol's a big city Emily. There could be more spirits hanging around down there. Or maybe some clues…I don't fucking know alright? I just need to feel like I'm doing something!" The blonde's voice grew louder as she spoke and took on a tremble. There were tears building up in her tired eyes, threatening to spill out at any moment. And there was guilt. It was written all over her face.  
"It wasn't your fault Naomi. None of this is your fault." The redhead wished she could have wrapped her arms around the other girl, held her tightly and whispered soothing words to her, but as it was she could only watch as Naomi Campbell broke down before her.

The tears finally fell as the first sob escaped her parted lips. "Yes it is! You were coming to see me Emily! I'm the reason you were down by the canal and I'm the reason you're dead!" She slumped down on to her bed and pulled her knees up to her chest as she sobbed in to her arms. "I'm the reason you're dead and nothing can change that!"


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So yesterday I accidentally posted a chapter of Stockholm as chapter 9 of this, my bad, I'm on new medication to help my migraines and I'm a bit of a zombie at the moment. Sorry for the confusion! Thought I'd better get this chapter finished and posted by way of apology! It also should have gone up last night, but I fell asleep without posting it -_-;**

"There's nothing out here Naomi." Emily sighed; they had been walking up and down the canal for almost an hour. Whilst ghosts didn't get tired they did get bored. After her breakdown in her room Naomi had clammed up and she had barely said a word since they had left the house. She had convinced herself that the other girl's death was her fault. Regardless of whatever Emily said to her.

It was finally light outside and the waterfront was starting to become a little more populated with early morning joggers and dog walkers passing by the girls every now and then. Naomi slumped on to one of the benches close by and glared out across the still waters of the canal. "There has to be something." She let out a heavy sigh.  
"It's been six days Naomi, the police would have found anything worth finding."  
"Well they haven't found you, have they?" Emily might have taken her words as flirting if she hadn't been scowling when she said them. "Sorry." She saw the flash of hurt across Emily's face and let out another sigh.  
"That's all I seem to say to you isn't it?"

"It's ok." Emily found herself once again trying to comfort the other girl. Her natural instinct to protect the people she cared about taking over.  
"No. It isn't. You're dead Emily. You're dead and I can't find you." Her eyes settled on the murky water again. Her body shivered involuntarily as she thought of how cold the water had been the night she had fallen in. Not for the first time she wondered whether Emily's body was lying at the bottom of the canal, dumped like a piece of trash amongst the shopping trolleys and discarded tires that undoubtedly littered the bed of the canal. She hoped Emily hadn't drowned in there. It was the closest Naomi had ever come to her own death and she would not wish it on her worst enemy.

Silently she got to her feet and walked down to the edge. Emily called out for her to be careful as she leant down and dipped her hand in to the water. She closed her eyes, letting her other senses take over as she searched the water for signs of a body. If there was a body in the canal she would feel its pull. The cold water lapping at her arm harboured nothing more sinister than pollution. There was no body. "Fuck." Naomi cursed as she pulled her hand back and dried it on her jeans.

"I wouldn't recommend a swim." Naomi's head shot up as she heard a familiar voice calling out to her. Detective Blunt was dressed in her usual pants suit with her trench coat on top. She took a seat on the bench Naomi had just vacated and waited for the blonde to do the same. Dragging her feet Naomi made her way over to the bench and perched on the end furthest away from the detective.  
"I've already had one thanks."  
"Really, when was that then?" The detective smiled that sickly sweet smile at her, as though they were two friends exchanging pleasantries. Her eyes were a different matter though. They were narrowed and taking in Naomi's every movement. "See I have witnesses that say they saw a young woman soaking wet in the early hours of Saturday morning. They said she was coming from the direction of the canal. Now at first I thought this might have been Emily, but they said she was blonde. You're blonde Miss Campbell."

Naomi could hear the unspoken accusation in her voice and she didn't like it one bit. "I was drunk. I fell in the canal." She answered truthfully, leaving out the part about how she got back out.  
"So around the time Emily Fitch went missing you fell in the canal? Interesting. Was Emily with you? Did she fall in as well? Hmm? Was there some sort of altercation between you and Miss Fitch? I know she had a thing for you-"  
"Just shut the fuck up!" Naomi snapped. She could see Emily going red out of the corner of her eye and she didn't appreciate the accusation that she'd played any part in her death. "I would never hurt her! I didn't even know how she felt about me until Cook told me! So why don't you stop wasting your time on me and find out what happened to Emily?"

"We're conducting our enquiries." Blunt chose to ignore her outburst, seemingly unfazed at having a teenager swear at her. She glanced around their surroundings, checking who was about before adding with a sigh, "In all honesty Naomi we're not getting anywhere. Emily doesn't seem the type to run away, and besides her phone we've not found a trace of her since leaving the club on Friday night. Someone spotting you that night was all we had to go on. I was going to be knocking on your door in a few hours…what are you doing out here at this time of day anyway?"  
"Couldn't sleep." The younger girl answered honestly. Her attention was drawn away as she caught sight of Emily standing behind the detective. She looked completely shattered by Blunt's admission that they were getting nowhere. "I can't stop thinking about her. Do you…do you think she might be dead?"

Naomi tried not to give too much away as she probed Blunt for answers. The Detective took a moment to weigh up her answer, obviously torn between being professional and being honest. She was a no-nonsense kind of woman and eventually answered her truthfully. "I think Emily would have been in touch with her family if she was capable of doing so." Naomi nodded, accepting the other woman's answer. "People don't just go missing Naomi. We'll find something sooner or later."  
"I hope so." Emily mumbled quietly, even though Blunt couldn't hear her. "I just wish I could remember something useful!"  
"You will." The words slipped out before Naomi could stop them. "I mean you have to find something." She quickly added, pretending she was addressing the detective, not the ghost lingering behind her.

Blunt didn't pick up on her uneasy behaviour. She pulled a card out of her pocket and handed it over to the blonde. It had her name and number printed on it. "If you think of anything that can help." Naomi took the card from her and pocketed it. Feeling her cigarettes in her pocket she pulled out the pack and lit one up. She offered one to Blunt who politely refused.  
"My kids would kill me. I quit four years ago…do you need a lift somewhere?" She indicated her car that was parked by the roadside. It wasn't far from where Rebecca's mother had been killed. Naomi shook her head.  
"I'm good thanks…Detective? Why were you down here?" Naomi stopped the older woman in her tracks as she made to go towards her car. Blunt offered her a half-hearted smile in response.  
"Checking I hadn't missed anything."

"I can't fucking believe it!" Emily snapped as soon as Blunt had got in her car and driven away. Her face was red with anger. "They don't have a fucking clue! I'm lying dead somewhere and they're chasing their tails!"  
"I'll find you Emily. I promise." Naomi's voice was low yet certain. There was a fierce determination in her eyes that gave the other girl a spark of hope, and also made something in her stomach flutter. How long had she wanted Naomi Campbell to look at her like that? Like she was everything in her world.

Naomi flicked her cigarette away and got to her feet, the moment apparently over. "Come on, I need to get ready for college. I've got a free afternoon so we'll work on finding Christopher May." The possibility that the dead little girl by the canal had witnessed Emily's death was a far-fetched one, but it was all they had to go on. Finding her brother was the key to getting her to talk.  
"I can't believe I'm dead and I still have to go to school." Emily huffed, though her mood was considerably lighter than it had been moments earlier.

"You could stay with mum?" Naomi suggested, careful to keep her voice low as they passed a group of joggers. She had learnt early on in life that talking to people that no one else could see was a sure fire way for people to consider you nuts. "I'll only be a few hours at college. I can probably skip the lesson before lunch." Emily reluctantly agreed to stay home with Gina. Naomi looked a little relieved, though she tried to hide it. Emily didn't take it personally. She decided Naomi probably needed some space. Having the ghost of a girl, who apparently had a secret crush on you, following you around every minute of the day wouldn't have been easy on anyone and the usually solitary blonde was no exception.

After days of having Emily stuck to her side like a Siamese twin it was nice to get some alone time. Naomi almost considered skipping her classes all together as she approached the college and the overwhelming emotion of the student body washed over. The air was filled with anxiety about tests and the general teenage angst that went with college. It was soaking in to Naomi like poison, slowly turning her mood until she was ready to give up on college all together. Then the mood changed. There was a sudden rush of energy and excitement for the approaching weekend. James Cook appeared out of nowhere and scooped Naomi up in to a bear hug.  
"Alright Blondie?"  
"Cook! Get off me!" She snapped, though there was a smile tugging at her lips. Cook's mood was infectious, washing over her and cleansing her of the negativity of the rest of the school.

"Fuck me Naoms, you're smiling. I better go tell that copper." He teased as he ruffled her hair. Naomi shoved him away, rolling her eyes at him.  
"What's got you in such a good mood?"  
"You know that little brunette at reception?" He winked at her as he made vile thrusting motions with his hips.  
"Eugh, you're such a pig." She sneered at him, but was at least glad to see he was in a better mood. The last thing she wanted to do was fight with her best friend. Something struck her as they started walking to class and she slowed her pace a little. Cook instantly copied her, knowing she needed to talk to him.

"Emily." She faltered after the first word, unsure what she really wanted to ask. It was her first chance to talk to him without the girl in question hanging around. "When did she tell you she liked me?" Cook shrugged at her, his body language suddenly becoming defensive as he shoved his hands in his pockets. He looked torn between answering her and protecting Emily.  
"Last year sometime."  
"Last year? Fucking hell Cook, you could have told me!"

How long had Emily been crushing on her without her knowing? "What would you have done Blondie?" He stared at her as if he could see right through her. He probably could. "You'd do what you always do when someone takes an interest, you'd be a bitch and you'd run away." There was a flash of hurt in his voice that was like a slap to the face for her.  
"Cook." She tried to put her hand on his arm but he shrugged away. "You know I love you like a brother."

The night Cook had made a pass at her last year had rocked Naomi to her core. He had always flirted with anything with a pair of legs, but she had never thought he was serious. "I'm a big boy Naomi, I can take it. Ems, she's a sweet kid, she could cope with you ignoring her…but I don't think she ever told you how she feels, because she couldn't take you looking at her the way you're looking at me now. Like you fucking pity me." He shoved his hood up and stormed off in to the crowd, ignoring Naomi's shouts of protest.  
"Fuck!" Naomi had thought Cook had grown out of his crush on her. Even Effy had assured her he was fine, but his little display told her otherwise. It seemed Naomi Campbell had a knack for pissing off the people who cared about her most. She knew her mother would certainly agree.

She was about to give up on classes all together when she caught sight of Effy making her way over to her, parting the crowds in the hall with her presence alone. "Hey." She had a small thin lipped smile on her lips, nothing like the usual smirk she wore. "How are you?"  
"Fine." Naomi shrugged, not used to small talk with the other girl. Effy Stonem wasn't one to waste words. "You?"

Effy seemed to consider the question for a few moments before shrugging her slender shoulders. "I'm worried about Katie. And Emily of course. She might not really be my girlfriend but I do care about her."  
"It must have been hard, pretending to be with Ems, but really being with Katie." Naomi sympathised, not sure she could have lived such a double life no matter how much she loved someone.  
"It wasn't too bad. I got to date twins." Effy smirked, a spark of her usual self shining through. "Emily had it the hardest. She couldn't wait to get away from Bristol. Away from Katie…She loves her, she just needs to get out from under her shadow, you know?" Naomi nodded. It saddened her that Emily's death had managed to do just that. She was the centre of attention for a change, but for all the wrong reasons.

"Katie thinks she's dead." Effy continued, she looked pained to admit it. "She felt like she was near her the other night, like her spirit or something…I'd think she was just grieving, but I felt it too. A few times actually. Do you believe in that stuff? Life after death and all that bollocks?"  
"No." Naomi's answer was a little sharp, but Effy didn't comment on it. She shrugged, accepting the usually cynical blonde's answer. She felt guilty for shooting Effy down, knowing what she did. It was possible Effy and Katie had both felt Emily's presence, but neither of them were 'gifted'. For them to be able to feel her meant Emily was burning a _lot _of energy. It usually took ghosts years to get to that kind of level of interacting with the world around them. Emily was something of an enigma. She was capable of invading Naomi's dreams and haunting her sister, yet she couldn't see other ghosts and her memories of her death weren't getting any clearer. It was like she'd skipped the basics of being a spirit and just gone straight to the advanced stuff. "Do you think Emily's dead?"

"I think she would never put Katie through this if she had a choice." Effy answered in the quietest voice Naomi had ever heard. "And if Katie thinks she's dead…" She trailed off, not bothering to finish off her sentence. They both knew where she was going with it anyway. Effy caught sight of Katie and Panda going in to their form class. Katie cast a sneer in Naomi's direction. Effy let out a deep sigh as she shook her head. "It'll kill Katie when they do find her."

After Effy had followed Katie and the others in to class Naomi hung back, debating whether or not to skip the rest of the day. Her decision was made for her as Sophia appeared out of nowhere. "Hi Naomi!" The other girl grinned madly at her.  
"Sophia. Hi." The blonde replied with a little less enthusiasm. "Look I've got to get to registration-"  
"Do you want to go for a drink tonight?" Sophia interrupted, her confidence and smile wavering as Naomi sighed.  
"I'm sorry I've got plans-"  
"Looking for Emily again?" Sophia's tone was sharp and shrill. "The police don't seem to be getting anywhere, why would you?" Naomi was done with niceties. She was sick of being hounded by the other girl.  
"Look Sophia, just leave me alone ok?"

"Ok." Naomi made to walk away, but the other girl's calm response stopped her in her tracks. Sophia didn't do cool, calm and collected. The last time Naomi had refused to speak to her she had made a scene in the middle of the canteen until Naomi had dragged her out and spent an hour trying to calm her down. There was a small smile playing on her lips. "I guess you don't want to hear what I know about Emily then."  
"What?" Naomi growled out, her hand clamping on to Sophia's wrist as the other girl tried to walk away. "What do you know about Emily?"  
"She looked good Friday night. Effy's a lucky girl...Or she would be if Emily were really her girlfriend." She smirked at Naomi's wide eyed glare.  
"How do you know about that?"

Sophia placed her hand over Naomi's and prised it away from her arm as her other hand cupped the blonde's cheek. It took all of Naomi's will power not to pull away in disgust. "Come meet me after cadets tonight. We'll go for a drink. Chat about us; and Emily." Sophia was grinning again as Naomi reluctantly agreed with a nod of her head.  
"I'll be there at nine." She grumbled as she pulled her hand away from the other girl's grip and shifted her bag on her shoulder. "To talk about Emily." She added, trying to keep the bitchiness out of her voice. She didn't know whether Sophia was telling the truth or just trying to lure her on a date with her, but considering they had next to nothing to go on she had to take the chance Sophia was telling the truth. If a date with the devil was the only way to help Emily then she'd take it. She owed her that much at least.

She was in no mood for sitting through her classes so she waited for Sophia to walk away before she slipped out of the nearest exit and made a bee line for the bus stop. She sat on the top deck with her head resting against the window as she tried to think about what she would do next. There was very little chance she would track down Christopher May within twelve hours, so she was going to have to meet Sophia to find out what she knew.

When she walked through her front door she was already in a foul mood without her mother starting. "College finish early did it love?"  
"My life. My education." She growled as she chucked her book bag down on the kitchen table. "Where's Emily?" Gina made a show of looking inside the teapot she had in her hands.  
"Well she's not in there. That's me stumped."  
"For fucks sake mum, I'm not in the mood, ok? Fucking Cook's gone off on one again, I've had DS fucking Blunt on my case about Emily and I've landed myself with a date with the fucking looney tune that's stalking me. So, where is Emily?"  
"Right here." Emily piped up from the door. "Who are you going on a date with?"

"It doesn't matter." Naomi sighed. She wasn't in the mood to repeat herself. "We need to find this Christopher May. Mum, any suggestions? You've done this shit before."  
"What about the journalist who covered the story?" Gina supplied. "Maybe they'd know what happened to the boy?"  
"Mum, you're a genius." Naomi finally cracked a smile and even gave Gina a brief hug. "I did my work experience in school at the Bristol Post. I'll see if Sarah White's still there, she can help me track down whoever covered the May deaths."  
"I'm coming too." Emily insisted as Naomi made to head back out the door. The blonde didn't object, Emily could be useful to her when they got to the newspaper office if she needed someone as a lookout.

The Bristol Post was one of the smaller newspapers in the city, with its offices upstairs in a building in the city centre. The receptionist looked barely older than Naomi, and more interested in her nails than visitors arriving at the desk.  
"Excuse me; I'm here to see Sarah White." The bimbo behind the desk didn't even bother to look up.  
"Have you got an appointment?" She asked in a nasally voice that grated on the blonde's last nerve.  
"I'm a friend of hers, can you tell her I'm here please?"  
"If you don't have an appointment-"  
"Listen you peroxide bitch, I need to see Sarah White _now,_ so just fucking call her ok?"

"Naomi Campbell. I see you still have a silver tongue." Before the receptionist could even open her mouth to object a smooth silky voice interrupted her. Sarah White was a successful journalist in her early thirties. Her thick black locks hung in loose curls around her shoulders and her olive skin identified her Italian origins. She pulled Naomi in to a hug, keeping an arm around her shoulders as she led her briskly past the receptionist's desk. "So, to what do I owe this pleasure Campbell?"  
"I'm looking for a man-"

"Never thought I'd hear you say that Naomi." Sarah chuckled as she led her past the desks in the middle of the floor and in to an office at the back. She was doing well for herself. "And here I thought you'd come to buy me that drink you'd promised me." She winked, catching Emily's attention. Naomi blushed, aware Emily was staring between the two of them. Naomi had had something of a crush on the older journalist when she had been a wide eyed fifteen year old on work placement.

She laughed Sarah's teasing off, knowing the other woman was happily married. "I read about a story from Nineteen Seventy Four, a little girl drowned in the canal, her mother died at the same time in a hit and run. There was a little boy with her, her son; I'm trying to find out what happened to him. Someone here covered the story."  
"Seventy four? Not many journos still knocking about from back then. Write down the details and your e-mail and I'll see what I can dig up."  
"Thanks Sarah, I really appreciate this. It's a thing for school." She lied, hoping Sarah's curiosity wouldn't pose too many problems for her.  
"No problem kiddo. Give me a few days…oh and try not to verbally abuse the temp at reception on the way out."

"I don't suppose there's any chance I could use one of your computers? See what I can dig up for myself?" Naomi pleaded, hoping she wasn't pushing her luck with the other woman. Sarah rolled her eyes as she wrote something down on a post it note and thrust it in Naomi's hand.  
"That'll log you on to any of the terminals in the office. I think there's a spare computer on desk three. Don't get yourself in any trouble now."

Naomi gave a mock salute as she rushed out of the office and found her way to desk three. "She seems…nice." Emily commented as she perched on the end of the desk, her little legs dangling above the ground. There was a teasing smile on her lips.  
"I was fifteen ok?" Naomi snapped, not feeling up to defending her adolescent crush on the older woman. "Now can I get on with finding this guy?"  
"Of course." Emily shrugged. "Better get cracking, big date tonight."  
"Fuck off Fitch." Naomi mumbled under her breath, aware the journalist on the next desk was throwing her funny looks. She was not looking forward to spending an evening with Sophia. Emily was going to owe her big time.


	10. Chapter 10

"Mum, where've you put my straighteners? They were in my room this morning!" Naomi hollered down the stairs as she held her bath towel in place with one hand and used her other to keep the towel wrapped around her head in place.  
"Well then they'll be in your room dear-"  
"They're not there!" Naomi snapped back like an irate child who had just been told the word 'no' for the first time. "You must have moved them!"

Gina's head popped around the bottom of the banister with a bemused expression. "Does it look like I've used you straighteners sweetie?" The older woman's hair was frizzed up and sticking up at odd angles. There was flour on her cheeks and she wore a less than fetching 'kiss the cook' apron. She hardly looked like she was getting dressed up for a night out. "Maybe the spirits moved them?" Gina's expression was deadly serious, though her eyes were full of amusement as she teased her stroppy daughter.

"Eugh! Forget it!" Naomi glared back at her before trudging in to her room and slamming the door behind her. Emily lay on her bed watching her with a bemused smile.  
"Are you always this moody when you're getting ready for a date?"  
"It's not a fucking date!" The blonde snapped as she started towelling her hair dry. "More like a death sentence. I swear if Sophia's lying about knowing something about you I'll fucking kill her!"  
"So she can stalk you after death too?" Emily smirked as Naomi cracked a smile and shook her head at her.  
"One ghost stalking me is quite enough." The blonde quipped back. "So what are you doing to entertain yourself tonight then? Hanging around with mum, or checking on Katie?"

"I'm coming with you!" Emily objected, seemingly a bit shocked that the blonde had thought otherwise.  
"No chance." Naomi snorted, shaking her head for added emphasis. "This is going to be hard enough without a running commentary from you!"  
"What if she tries to spike your drink? Or she drags you done some dark alley to have her wicked way? Hmm? You need backup!"  
"She's a teenage girl Emily, not Jack the Ripper. And _'wicked way'_? What are you fifty?"

The younger girl huffed at her as she crossed her arms over her chest and sulked. "I'm just trying to look out for you." Naomi sighed as she started applying her mascara, she was making an effort to get Sophia to talk, but she didn't want to overdo it in case the other girl took it the wrong way. She knew Emily was trying to protect her, but there was also a hint of jealousy in her tone. They sat in an awkward silence for few minutes as Naomi applied her makeup. Finally, before plugging her hairdryer in to finish her hair, she turned to the sulking girl and cracked a small smile. "If you think I'm bad before a date you should see me on one. Total bitch." She teased, trying to coax Emily out of her huff.  
"I'd have loved to see you on a date." Emily replied in a quiet far away voice, as though her thoughts were on all the dates and nights out she would never get to have now she was dead.

"Where would we go?" Naomi asked, struggling to keep her own voice from breaking. "On our date?" Emily looked like she would rather be anywhere else but having that conversation with her, but she answered anyway. Taking a few moments to think about it she finally managed a small lopsided smile.  
"I'd take you to my favourite place. It's by this lake in the woods. I'd take a picnic and we'd drink and talk till our throats were numb. Then we'd lie on a blanket under the stars and you'd complain how shit it was." Emily let out a small giggle as Naomi nodded in agreement.  
"I'd have just taken you to a bar or something." Naomi forced herself to smile at the other girl, even though inside she felt like she was breaking. "See, I'm a shit date. You had a lucky escape Fitch."  
"It would still be the best night of my life." Emily argued, being a little more forthright with her attraction to the blonde. They had skirted around it since the morning before, but the little ghost seemed to be getting braver.

Naomi decided not to comment, not sure what she could really say back anyway. She set to work on her hair, turning her back on the redhead lying on her bed, her mind filled with a wonderful day by a lake in the forest that would never happen. She had missed her chance with Emily Fitch a long time ago. Instead she was stuck going on a non-date date with Sophia in the hopes of finding something out about Emily's death. God being a teenager sucked sometimes.

Once her hair and makeup was done Naomi took out some underwear from her drawer and slipped it on under the towel. Standing by her wardrobe she called out to Emily, who was still lying quietly on her bed, "No peeking perve."  
"Don't flatter yourself love." Emily shot back, though Naomi could feel her eyes watching her as she dropped the towel to the ground. A smile crept over her lips. It felt nice to be wanted.

"So what do you think?" She asked after she'd finished getting dressed. She twirled on the spot to give Emily a good look. The other girl sat on the end of her bed, her brow furrowed as she scrutinized the blonde from head to toe. She wore a pair of form fitting skinny jeans with a blue blazer over a white printed tee. Her long blonde hair was straightened, after she'd finally found the offending straighteners under her bed, and she had just enough makeup on to still pull off a natural look. Her eyes were framed by dark kohl and were staring expectantly at Emily as she took her sweet time replying. She felt her stomach fluttering as Emily's eyes seemed to drink her in.  
"Uhm, well…" Emily cleared the lump out of her throat. "Do you own baggy jeans, a thick jumper and some sort of hat?"

Naomi rolled her eyes, a pleasant smile on her face from Emily's response. The other girl's eyes were practically popping out of her head. How had Naomi never noticed her looking at her like that before? The little redhead looked at Naomi like she was some sort of goddess; and it made her feel nice. No, more than nice, she felt hot. "Sorry, my balaclava's in the wash." She smirked as she faffed with her hair in the mirror.  
"For not being a date you're really making an effort." Emily remarked a little dryly.  
"Trust me Ems, this isn't me making an effort."

She hadn't meant to sound quite so flirtatious, but thing just seemed to slip out of her mouth when Emily was about. It was like the other girl's presence instantly severed the connection between Naomi's brain and her mouth. "I wish I'd had the nerve to ask you out now." Emily said it as a joke, but there was an edge to her voice. A bitterness that she would never get the chance to go on a date with the girl standing in front of her.  
"Me too." It was another instance of her mouth working before her brain and the blonde hid the slip with a shy smile. "I'll be back in a few hours to tell you how awful it was. No following."  
"Maybe you should tell that to Sophia before you come home?" Emily teased, helping the awkwardness between them pass. "Have fun."

Naomi rolled her eyes at the cheeky spirit before slipping out of her room. After a quick word with her mother, a thinly veiled threat to keep an eye on Emily lest she go wandering, she left the house to face what would possibly be the most excruciating non-date of her life. She was meeting Sophia after cadets, probably so the other girl could show her off to her friends.

Naomi was a little early and when she turned up the cadets were still on parade in the front yard, all dressed in their camouflage gear and marching to the orders of the sergeant in front of them. Another older man in full dress uniform stood by the gate, watching them with an intense scrutiny. Naomi came to a stop beside him, not wanting to interrupt the proceedings. Sophia stood at the front, her expression serious and her eyes dead ahead on the drill sergeant. She wasn't a bad looking girl, though her army fatigues hardly showed off her figure as much as the jeans shorts she had been wearing the afternoon Naomi had first met her. They'd dated for a few weeks. At first she'd seemed nice. They shared a couple of classes and even a similar taste in music and books, though Naomi was a pacifist like her mother and did not believe in war. Sophia however had been just as passionate as her belief in the army and they'd had many the drawn out argument about it. It had been refreshing to meet someone so passionate about something for a change and they'd had enough in common to keep Naomi interested long enough to sleep with her.

After that night the other girl had changed though. She'd become possessive and jealous, continuously insisting Naomi was her girlfriend, despite the fact that the blonde didn't remember them ever having that particular discussion about their relationship. She's called it off after Sophia had gotten too intense, going as far as threatening Cook to stay away from her. The stalking had started shortly after and Naomi had done her best to avoid the other girl all together. Yet there she was, throwing herself in to the lion's den.

"Why aren't you in uniform cadet?" The sergeant glared down at her with a curled lip like she was something he'd just stepped in. "It's bad enough we have to take you girls on without you dressing like beatniks!"  
"I'm not a cadet. I'm waiting for someone." Naomi snapped back, glaring back at him just as sternly. The officer sneered at her and returned his attention to the cadets as they were dismissed. Sophia spotted Naomi standing by the gate and walked straight over to her the, there was a confident swagger in her hips, and a satisfied smirk on her lips, as though she had already won whatever game she was playing.

She stood to attention in front of the officer and saluted him. He nodded at her before dismissing the two girls and striding off, following the cadets inside.  
"Sexist prick." Naomi muttered as soon as he was out of earshot.  
"He's a nice guy." Sophia remarked. "Just from a different time Naoms." They both watched as the officer walked through the solid brick of the building the cadets had just rushed in to.  
"Don't call me that." The blonde grumbled, irked by the pet name coming from Sophia's lips.  
"He survived both world wars you know? Had a heart attack here at the base in the middle of training." The other girl carried on as though Naomi hadn't said anything. "Poor old thing still thinks he's running the place."

One of the attractions of Sophia had been the fact that she could see the lingering spirits of the world too. She wasn't particularly 'gifted', as far as Naomi knew she could only move things with her mind, which was pretty basic compared to what some of the psychics Naomi had encountered could do. Sophia certainly couldn't read minds or pick up on a person's emotional state. If she could have she would have known how much Naomi didn't want to be anywhere near her.  
"I'm not here to talk about ghosts." She finally lost her patience as Sophia started talking about the other wanderings spirits on the base.  
"Oh?" Sophia asked, that little smirk of hers never wavering. "And here I thought you were here to talk about Emily. I suppose you haven't told her I can see her too?"  
"I don't want you anywhere _near_ her!" Naomi growled out, momentarily forgetting she was supposed to be keeping the other girl on side. Sophia's smile didn't waver.  
"She doesn't remember Friday night does she?"  
"And how do you know that?" Naomi's eyes narrowed as she stared down the other girl.

"Because you wouldn't be here talking to me if she did." Sophia replied flippantly. "So why don't you wait here while I get a shower a change of clothes? Then we can talk about _Emily._"  
"You better have some worthwhile information Sophia, or I fucking swear…" She trailed off as Sophia held up her hands in mock surrender.  
"Trust me; you're going to want to hear what I have to say."

She flounced off in to the building the other cadets had gone in, leaving Naomi to wait outside for her. Twenty minutes later she emerged wearing jeans and plaid shirt under her leather jacket. Her hair was still damp and beginning to curl as it was held up in a ponytail. She went to take Naomi's hand but the blonde jerked it away. "So, where are we going?" She tried not to curl her lip at the thought of going anywhere with the other girl.  
"There's a pub just around the corner."

The pub was quite quiet for a Thursday night and they managed to get a table at the back. Naomi slipped off her coat and settled herself at the table as Sophia went to the bar, insisting she would get the drinks in. She returned with two large glasses of red wine and sat one in front of Naomi. Emily's words of warning about spiked drinks were ringing in her ears and she examined it closely before taking a sip. "What do you know about Emily?" Naomi didn't beat about the bush. She wanted to be home as quick as she could. Sophia however had every intention of stringing things out.  
"Lots of things. I know she's a twin, she has red hair, Effy Stonem is her fake girlfriend-"  
"About Emily's death." Naomi corrected in a harsh whisper, mindful of the people sitting around them.

"Oh, that. Well I know she left the club to come tell you about her little crush." The other girl smirked as she watched Naomi squirm uncomfortably. "I heard her on the phone to Cook outside the club. She said she was going to tell you how she felt. She fancied you you know? I see a lot of things at college. Just like I saw the way that Effy and Katie look at each other when they think no one's looking. I saw the way Emily used to look at you, she didn't have to hide it, she knew you'd never see her anyway."  
"That's not true!" Naomi hissed, though she knew it was. She didn't need someone like Sophia throwing it in her face. The other girl chuckled as though the blonde had just told a funny joke.  
"You never noticed her Naomi. It was quite pathetic really…I told her that. She didn't like what I had to say though. She ran off crying."

"What did you say her?" Naomi growled, her voice rising higher the more Sophia spoke. Had Emily run off after an argument with Sophia and ended up falling in to the canal? Or worse throwing herself in to it? _No._ Naomi shook those kind of thoughts from her head. Emily was not the suicidal type. She wouldn't just throw her life away over Naomi not liking her back. Sophia had been the last one to see her. She had to have said or done something. She was involved somehow, Naomi just knew it.  
"I told her you were my girlfriend. And that you'd never be interested in a slut like her-" Sophia paused as her wine glass exploded in front of her, sending shards of glass spraying out all over. Luckily she managed to guide the glass harmlessly to the floor before it could harm anyone. "Careful Naomi, anyone would think you were losing control. I could help you with that you know? You just need some stress relief…" One of her feet had slipped out of her trainer and was rubbing up and down Naomi's leg. The blonde felt her anger bubbling over again as her own glass began shaking on the table. Sophia reached over to take her hand, but Naomi knocked her hand away from her and got to her feet. She was shaking herself as she struggled to keep her emotions in check. If she lost control with Sophia she would probably bring the whole pub down with her.  
"You had no right to say that to her, you manipulative bitch! If I find out you had anything to do with her death I swear I'll kill you myself!" She glared at the other girl before storming out of the pub.

She was still raging when she got home. After kicking her boots off at the door she went in to the living room to find her mother and vent some of her anger. Instead of her mother she found Emily lying on the sofa watching television. She was glaring at the remote that she couldn't touch as though she could change the channel by sheer will power alone. Naomi swiped it from the arm of the chair and switched from whatever had been on to an old horror movie. She left it on, quite happy to deal with make believe creatures of the night. "Where's mum?" She quizzed the other girl as she pulled off her blazer and slung it on the back of the sofa. Her white T-shirt was covered in spatters of red wine from the incident with Sophia's exploding glass.

"She went to bed not long after you left. Something about not wanting to be up when you came in bitching about how shit it was?"  
"Lovely." Naomi remarked dryly. "Well it was shit and I need someone to bitch to." She told Emily more or less what had happened, omitting the small detail of Sophia being a psychic too. When she finished Emily was scowling.  
"What a bitch! I think I remember arguing with someone…it's still a bit fuzzy though." She rubbed at her eyes as though it would clear the fog in her head.  
"If you could remember _anything _soon that would be real helpful." The blonde muttered bitterly. "Because I am not going though that ordeal ever again!"  
"It's not like I'm not trying!" Emily huffed. With her arms folded and her lower lip jutting out in a pout she looked more cute than angry. Naomi found herself chuckling at her. "What?" She snapped,that cute little pout just getting bigger.  
"Nothing." Naomi shook her head as she lost her smile. She'd really missed out. It seemed the whole world had known Emily liked her before she did. "I'm tired, thanks for listening to me rant, but I need to get to bed. We can start fresh in the morning, and I'll let Blunt know about Sophia arguing with you. Maybe she can arrest her for something."  
"I don't think you can arrest someone for being a bitch."  
"I hope not. I'd be serving a life sentence." Naomi laughed as she got to her feet. "Look, if you get sick of hanging out in my mum's head…you're welcome in mine, ok?"  
"Ok." Emily nodded, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips. "Maybe not tonight though, I don't want to be in your nightmares with Sophia. The real thing is bad enough."

Naomi chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Well the offer's there. Goodnight Ems."  
"Goodnight Naomi."

**Two updates in two days, not bad for me! I did have three days off work…haven't got another one this week though and I need to work on finishing Stockholm, so the next update may take a little longer! Once again thanks**** to everyone's who reading and**** for all the great reviews! **


	11. Chapter 11

**Three updates in one week…a sure sign my social life is going downhill****.**** T****his story seems to be all I can write at the moment so I'm just going with it. I **_**need **_**to get another chapter of Stockholm up, but I may get another chapter of this don****e**** over the weekend**** too****. Once again a big thanks to everyone who's reading and for the lovely reviews****! ****Glad to see people are starting to get over the whole Emily being dead thing…**

"Katie, it's getting late. I think it's time Effy went home." Jenna remarked as she entered her living room and found the girls curled up on one sofa with James lying on another. "And it's passed your bed time young man."  
"Awww! But Mum-"  
"No buts mister. Bed. Now. Katie say goodnight to Effy." Jenna's tone left no room for argument. Katie of course had to argue.  
"Can Effy stay over mum?"  
"No." The older woman snapped as her eyes narrowed at the pair of them. "I don't think it's appropriate Katie. Your sister is missing-"  
"Well it's not my fucking fault she stormed out of the club is it?" Katie finally lost her patience. Her mother had been off with her and Effy ever since Emily's disappearance. She'd never been open about it, but she blamed them. The sly looks, the little comments, they had all built up, wearing the oldest twin down until she finally snapped.

"You're her big sister Katie! You should have been looking out for her!" Jenna's hand flew to her mouth, as though she had shocked herself with her outburst. Katie was wide eyed as she stared at her mother like she'd just slapped her. She might as well have. "I'm sorry Katie, but it's true! I just don't understand why Emily ran off? You're her sister, and you're supposed to be her girlfriend!" She turned her anger on to Effy, glaring at the stoic girl sitting silently on her sofa.  
"No she's not! She's my girlfriend, ok?"

Katie's outburst left the whole room in silence. Even Rob, who had just walked in to ask what all the shouting was about, stood in stunned silence. "W-what?" Jenna spluttered looking between the two girls as Effy got to her feet and took hold of Katie's hand. She gave it a reassuring squeeze, her own fierce stare set on Jenna.  
"It's true." Katie added in a smaller voice. "Emily pretended to be Effy's girlfriend to cover for me. I didn't want anyone knowing I was…that way. I saw how you were when Emily came out…"  
"Katie!" Jenna exclaimed, she looked wounded by her words. "How could you…I…I know I didn't take Emily coming out very well, but I've been trying! Am I that much of a monster that my children can't confide in me?"  
"Well you never seemed to like Effy! I thought you'd freak!"

"I didn't like the girl because I didn't think she really wanted Emily! Clearly I was right!" Jenna threw her hands up in to the air with frustration. "You silly silly girl! I'm your mother! I love you, and Emily and James, no matter what!" She pulled Katie in for a hug and dragged a protesting James in to as well. "You are my babies and you can tell me anything!" She insisted as she clung to them like they would disappear if she ever let go. Rob stood by the door, nodding in agreement.  
"Mum-" James started, though was quickly silenced with a glare.  
"Don't even think about it James, you're too young. And didn't I say bed?"

She chased her youngest child up to bed before turning to Effy and Katie. "Right, Effy I believe I owe you an apology. I've not been as nice to you as I should have been. You can stay over tonight, but first thing in the morning you two are telling me the truth. All of it. I want to know why Emily ran away! Maybe if we can get this all mess sorted out we can get her back home."

Neither Katie nor Effy tried to argue that Emily would never run away, and from the look on Rob Fitch's face he was holding his tongue too. After another awkward hug, in which Jenna insisted on including Effy, the girls made their escape to the safety of the twins' shared bedroom. "Jesus." Katie sighed as she locked the door behind them and slumped on to her bed. Effy offered her a sympathetic smile before making her way over to the bed and climbing on to Katie's lap, which was quite a feat seeing as the other girl was half of her size. Effy's arms wrapped around her neck as she leant forward to kiss her.

Her actions were slow and careful. She wasn't trying to start anything between them; she was just trying to be there for her. Emily's disappearance had hit her hard and her certainty that Emily was dead wasn't helping matters. "Maybe she did run away." Effy's voice was little more than a whisper in the dark. She didn't believe that any more than Katie, but she felt she had to try and offer the other girl some comfort and it was all she could think of to say.  
"She wouldn't do that to me." Tears began to stream down the smaller girl's cheeks. She lay down on her bed, puling Effy down with her. They lay like that for a while before Katie finally spoke again. "I can't believe mum's okay with it…with us. Fuck…I should have told her from the start. Maybe Ems would still fucking be here-"  
"Don't Katie." Effy scorned as she wrapped her arms around the smaller girl's frame. "Just don't."

"Thanks, I just thought you should know." Naomi hung up her phone as Kieran took a seat beside her on the steps at the back of the college. It was still early and the campus was relatively empty. Naomi had slipped out of the house early to ring DS Blunt and let her know about Sophia arguing with Emily the night she had disappeared. It was possible the other girl was one of the last people to see Emily alive.  
"Hello young blood, setting the world to rights?" The older man teased as he pulled out a battered metal rolling tin and starting hand rolling a cigarette.  
"Kind of. Sophia told me she argued with Emily before she disappeared. I was just telling DS Blunt."

"Ahh." Kieran sighed as he stuck the roll up between his lips and searched his many pockets for his lighter. "Emily. That's the wee gay lassie that's missing?" Naomi nodded. She watched him fumble through his pockets for a few more moments before she finally pulled out her own lighter and offered it to him. He took it with a mumble thanks and manage to spark it up after three tries. "Shame. She was a nice one, one of the only little fuckers in your year that actually listens to me. Not like her sister." He shook his head in dismay.  
"Katie Fitch the bitch?" Naomi chuckled, glad Emily had chosen to stay at home with her mother. The other girl had been off with her all morning before declaring she was staying home to keep Gina company. She couldn't understand the sudden change in the girl. They had been getting on better, but Emily had suddenly become distant. Naomi supposed she had every reason to be distracted. It had been a week since her death and they were no closer to finding out what had happened. Even the police were chasing their tails.

"That weird one still following you about then is she?" Kieran's question pulled Naomi out of her own thoughts. She flicked her own cigarette away as she rolled her eyes and nodded.  
"She tricked me in to a fucking date last night. Told me she knew something about Emily's de- disappearance. Turns out she was arguing with her that night." Kieran watched her with a curious expression as she spoke.  
"So you went on a date with the nutter to find out what she knew about this Emily? That's dedication. I didn't even know you two were close-"  
"We weren't." Naomi couldn't really explain that she'd only grown close to the other girl in the week she had been dead. "I just feel like I need to know what happened to her. I can't explain why. It's just…it's like I need to make up for never really knowing her. Is that crazy?"  
"Nah." Kieran shook his head. "Going out with that Sophia girl, now that's crazy. Don't be doing that again."  
"I won't." Naomi chuckled at his mock serious expression. "Promise."

Naomi sat with the less than conventional teacher until the bell rang for registration. When Naomi walked in to her form room she found Cook and JJ had turned their chairs around to face the desks the girls sat at. Freddie was sitting in her usual place next to Cook, so she took his seat next to JJ. She was sitting right in front of Katie, but for once she didn't receive a sneer or a snarky comment. The other girl was silent, her head turned towards the window and her attention elsewhere.

There were dark circles under the other girl's eyes, making Naomi wonder if she had actually slept since her twin had gone missing. She caught her eye and the oldest twin finally snapped out of her daze. "What the fuck are you looking at?" She snapped, though her words lacked their usual venom, as though she couldn't bring herself to care enough to put any effort in to what she was saying. Her mind was still on Emily.  
"Nothing." Naomi muttered. She wasn't going to give her the chance to take all of her problems out on her. Katie seemed to realise this and quickly deflated, her attention going back to the world outside. Her emotions were all over the place and sitting so close to her was making the blonde uneasy.

Having Katie's twin's ghost feeding her energy was making her more sensitive to the other girl. She was doing a good job of blocking out the rest of the class, but Katie's grief and anguish were practically screaming at her. The other girl's mind was a mess. Her guilt was overwhelming and mixing with Naomi's own guilt it was becoming something toxic, stewing inside of the blonde until she felt she was going to start screaming.

Then something changed. Katie's mood lightened in an instant, her guilt replaced by a spark of hope that seemed to build inside of her until it cast everything else she was feeling in to darkness. This emotion was just as consuming and infectious. Naomi's gaze slipped down to find Effy holding Katie's hand under the table. The other girl's touch was like an anchor keeping Katie tethered to the world.

"She really loves her."  
"Jesus!" All eyes in the class fell on Naomi as she shouted out at the top of her voice, Emily's sudden appearance by her side startling the hell out of her. "Saw a fox." She mumbled pathetically, wishing the floor would just open up and swallow her. The rest of the class quickly lost interest in her, except for Effy. The other girl was looking at her as though she was trying to solve a particularly difficult puzzle.  
"Sorry Naoms." Emily apologised sheepishly, aware she had just seriously embarrassed the other girl. "I was in Tesco with your mum…."

Naomi couldn't acknowledge her in a room full of people who already thought she was mad. She excused herself and waited until she was in the hall before finally speaking to the bashful ghost. "Thanks Ems, just make me look like a fucking loon why don't you."  
"I said I was sorry." The younger girl huffed. "I can't fucking help being attracted to you!" Emily's eyes widened as she realised what she had just said. She had meant it in a literal physical sense, but they both knew she was attracted to her in more than one way.  
"Must be my magnetic personality." Naomi cracked, her lips twitching up in to a smile as Emily blushed.

"Who the fuck are you talking to?" Katie Fitch's shrill voice snapped from behind her.  
"Fuck." Emily cursed. She had failed to spot the classroom door opening at the end of the hall and her twin stood behind Naomi looking at her like she was away with the fairies.  
"Hands free." Naomi lied smoothly as she pretended to swipe something from her ear. Katie stared at her for a bit longer before shaking her head.  
"Fucking weirdo." She dismissed the blonde, intending to carry on to the bathroom where she had originally been heading.  
"Katie." Naomi surprised all three of them by calling out to the oldest twin. "I'm sorry. About Emily. I hope you hear something soon." Katie paused, her features scrunched together as she tried to work out if Naomi was being sincere or taking the piss. Eventually she relented and muttered a thank you before she walked off.

When Naomi turned her attention back to the youngest twin she was smiling. "You and Katie playing nice? Is the world ending?" Emily was only teasing her, but her words held a ring of truth for the blonde. Katie's world would soon feel like it was ending once her sister's body was found. There had never been much love lost between Naomi and Katie, but the coming weeks would be hard enough on Katie without the blonde bickering with her.  
"Well miracles do happen Ems."

"We could use one about now Naoms." Emily sighed as she lost her smile. "It's been a week now-"  
"I'll find you." Naomi interrupted; steel in her voice that made her sound more confident than she really was. "Whatever happens. I promise I won't give up till I find you Emily."

"What the actual fuck?" Katie snapped from the end of the corridor where she had lingered by a group of lockers to spy on the strange blonde. "You're fucking touched in the head Campbell! You're not just talking to yourself, you're talking about _Emily. _My fucking sister! Did you do something to her Campbell, is that it?" Although Katie was as pint sized as her twin she could be pretty intimidating when she was right up in your face, screaming like a banshee.  
"Fuck, Katie, I can explain!" She couldn't. She couldn't share her secret with Katie Fitch. The whole school would know within the hour and she'd be a laughing stock.  
"Where's Emily? What the fuck did you do to her you sick fuck?" She was shouting, her voice growing louder and louder. Pretty soon someone would over hear. Doors would open and curious students would pop their heads out to bear witness to Katie Fitch tearing the blonde to pieces.

Naomi was at a loss. She didn't know what to say or do to calm the raging girl. "Say Emsy sham!" Emily ordered her, her voice mixing with Katie's to form a chorus of Fitch women shouting at her.  
"What?" She snapped at, as far as Katie was concerned, thin air to the left of her.  
"You're such a fucking freak-"  
"Alright! Fucks sake! Emsy sham."

Katie's shouting stopped instantly. She stared at Naomi as though she were a dangerous snake lying in wait to strike at her. "Emily wouldn't tell." She growled out, her anger bubbling over to hysteria as she slammed Naomi against the nearest locker. Her face was inches away as she added. "That's ours! She wouldn't tell!"  
"Tell what?" Naomi demanded, having no clue what she had just said. "Emily just said it ok? I don't know what it means!" She hadn't meant to say that. It had slipped out of her mouth and there was nothing she could do to take it back. Katie let go of her instantly and took a step back like Naomi was some sort of lunatic who had just told her the sky was falling in. To be fair to the other girl she might as well have.

"What the fuck are you on about, Emily just said it? She's not here! She's gone! She's my sister and she's missing and you're fucking standing there lying to me!"  
"Look." Naomi cut her off, desperately trying to reason with her before the shock wore off and the screaming started again. "I'm guessing that's your language, yours and Emily's. I know this sounds crazy but she's here and I can see her ok, so ask me something. Ask me anything in yours and Emily's language. There's no way I could know every word. So say something and Emily will tell me. I swear Katie! Please!"

Katie's eyes narrowed at her. She looked dangerously close to exploding, but some small part must have believed the babbling girl in front of her as she let out a string of words that Naomi couldn't understand. Once she'd finished she waited expectantly. Naomi looked to where Emily was nervously hovering for a translation. She nodded as she listened to what the redhead had to say and repeated it for her sister's benefit. "You just called me a lying bitch and said you're going to kick my head in. Oh, and four words were made up."

Katie stared wide eyed, frozen to the spot with a mixture of shock and awe. There was no way Naomi could know their secret language fluently enough to understand what the oldest twin had just said to her. "How the fuck did you do that?" Naomi was at the point of no return. She had no choice but to confide in the other girl.  
"I'll tell you, but you have to promise to hear me out."

"So you're the fucking exorcist or something?" Katie scoffed as they sat on the track field at the back of the college, far away from prying eyes. The older twin had not taken the news that her twin was dead well, though deep down she knew it was true. Naomi had had to jump through a few more hoops before Katie had finally admitted she had to be able to see and hear Emily to know the answers to the questions she posed. She'd not been overly happy when Naomi hadn't been able to answer what had happened to her twin.  
"Not quite." Naomi remarked dryly, she was toying with blades of grass in her hand before she finally let them go and kept them floating in the air. Katie gasped and shuffled back from her a little bit. "I come from a long line of people who were different. We can do things and see things that other people can't-"  
"Like what? Can you move stuff bigger than grass?"

Naomi snorted at that, as though it were a challenge to float blades of grass a few inches above the ground. "Pretty much anything, but it takes energy. The bigger something is the more energy it takes for me to move it." It was strange to be having a conversation with Katie Fitch about her abilities. The other girl hadn't freaked out quite as much as Naomi had expected and she had even promised to keep it secret. It was Emily she promised to in their strange twin language, but it was better than nothing. "I can pick up on other people's emotions too; some people can manipulate them, kind of like hypnotic suggestion-"  
"Is that how you got Ems to fancy you?"  
"Katie!" Emily snapped. She was red faced and completely unable to stop her sister from embarrassing her.

"It really bugs you that Emily likes me doesn't it?" Naomi let the grass that was hovering fall as she turned her complete attention on to Katie. The other girl squirmed under her gaze, as though she had a newfound respect for the other girl born out of fear of the unknown. That reaction Naomi _had_ been expecting.  
"Well you were a twat. You didn't even look at her twice. I mean come on, Ems is fucking _fit. _She is _my _twin after all." Katie flicked her hair for added emphasis.  
"Yeah." Naomi sighed, completely agreeing. Just because she wasn't too keen on Katie didn't mean she didn't recognise that _both _the twins were attractive. "She was gorgeous and I was a twat."

For once the girl sitting beside her seemed to have some tact and decided to change the topic. "Can you tell Emily I'm sorry? I shouldn't have let her run off that night. I should have-"  
"She can hear you Katie." Naomi explained, her own tone becoming a little softer. She smiled as Emily added her own response. "Ems says don't be a stupid cow. It wasn't your fault."

"Am I interrupting something?" Effy's cool voice cut through them as she appeared beside them on the field. "I've been calling and texting you for an hour." She glared at the pair of them, for once in her life revealing a vulnerable  
side Naomi hadn't been aware she possessed. Before Naomi could say anything Katie had blurted everything out. Her promise apparently not extending to not telling her girlfriend. Effy quietly took it all in, her gaze occasionally flashing to Naomi as Katie told her everything. The other girl sombrely took it all in. She seemed sceptical and asked if she could ask Emily a question.  
"Shoot." Naomi held her hand up vaguely in Emily's direction. Effy's gaze already seemed to have found the spot.

"I said something to you Friday night, when we were all getting ready to go out and Katie was downstairs." That seemed to qualify as a question for the usually silent girl. Emily looked uncomfortably from Effy to Naomi. She finally settled on Katie before answering.  
"You told me we only live once, so I might as well go for it." Naomi could guess what Effy had been referring to. So it had been Effy who'd put the idea in Emily's head to go seek her out that night. It seemed everyone gathered on the feel had a reason to feel guilty about Emily's death.

Deciding it was something Katie didn't need to know Naomi embellished the truth as she answered. "Something about only living once." Effy nodded as though she knew she was getting the abridged answer. Finally convinced she asked the same question as Katie had. What had happened to Emily and where was she? When Naomi couldn't give her any answers she chose a different question. "So what do we do now?"


	12. Chapter 12

"So this Chris guy knows something about Emily's disappearance?" Naomi rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to sigh. She'd explained things twice already and the oldest twin just wasn't getting it.  
"No sweetie, his dead sister might know something, but we need to find him so his mother will move on and go see his sister so she'll tell Naomi what she knows." Effy had the patience of a saint to put up with the other girl. At least Katie seemed to grasp it once Effy explained it again.  
"Well that's just stupid. What if the girl doesn't even know anything?"  
"It's all we've got Katie." Naomi finally gave in to her urge to sigh and held her head in her hands. The headache she'd had for the last few days was getting worse the longer the spent around the oldest Fitch twin.

"You ok?" Emily quizzed, her face was full of concern as her twin just glared at the blonde. She shook her head slightly, not wanting to alert the others to the fact that Emily was talking to her. Katie was insisting Naomi shared every word her twin was saying and after an hour of sitting on the field playing messenger it was getting tiresome. Emily seemed to have picked up on that fact as she'd stopped talking all together. "You don't look so good." Naomi didn't feel good either. Her head was not her only ache. Her whole body felt sluggish and tense. She felt like just going home and crawling back in to bed. Except Katie Fitch was like a dog with a bone, insisting on going over everything that had happened from the day Emily had disappeared. She wanted answers, and when neither Emily nor Naomi could give them she was getting snappy.

"So we find this guy then!" Katie announced like she had just unveiled some detailed grand master plan.  
"Gee, why didn't I think of that?" Naomi muttered, getting a sharp look from each of the other three girls. "Look I've been trying alright? It's not that easy to find someone."  
"Well why don't you tell the police? It's their job isn't it?" Katie snapped like the blonde was mentally challenged.  
"Oh yeah, I'm sure DS Blunt would love to know I'm a psychic who sees dead people!"  
"Naomi, please…" Emily's eyes were wide and pleading. "She's upset. Please just try and be a little nicer to her. For me?"

Naomi lapsed in to silence, refusing to acknowledge the pouting spirit beside her. She didn't even lift her eyes from the ground where she was idly pulling up clumps of grass. "Oh great, ignore me. That's new." Emily huffed. She folded her arms across her chest and sulked. "Where are you going?" She pulled herself out of her huff long enough to quiz the blonde as she got to her feet and brushed the grass from her jeans.  
"I've got a friend looking for the guy, she's a journalist and I said I'd meet her for lunch. So…" Naomi lied; though she was intending to speak to Sarah she was using it as an excuse to leave. A small part of her hoped Emily would stay with the other girls. She needed some time to clear her head. Quite literally. Having Emily constantly around was making her ill. She'd never spent so much time with a ghost. Her energy was pouring in to the blonde, filling her up to the point she felt like her head was going to explode from the pressure. She needed to blow off some steam and burn some energy. Most off all she needed a break. Sadly Emily was oblivious to this.  
"Ok, I'll come with." She said almost in unison with her twin.  
"No." Naomi snapped, answering them both at the same time. "I just need some time by myself ok?"  
"She's my sister Campbell! You can't just tell me she's dead and not expect me to sit back and do fuck all!"  
"Katie-" Effy tried, picking up on the blonde's irritable mood and trying to do her bit to calm her girlfriend down.

"No! Don't fucking Katie me!" The smaller girl snapped as she pulled away from her and glared at Naomi. "You can see her and talk to her. I can't! She's my fucking _twin_ Naomi. You can't understand what it's like. It's like I've lost a part of me ok? You're the only link I've got to her now." Her tear filled wide brown eyes were identical to Emily's and Naomi couldn't stand it.  
"Ok! Ok!" Naomi grumbled as she held her aching head again. "Look I'll meet you after college and let you know what I find out. Emily, stay with Katie or go see mum. Please." She added as the youngest twin opened her mouth to object.

With both twins temporarily appeased she left them on the field and made her way back to the main building of the college to dump her school things in her locker. The hallways were empty with most people sitting locked away in lessons. Naomi was glaring at the mess inside her locker, debating whether or not to attempt some sort of impromptu spring clean, when the door slammed shut in front of her. She jumped back in shock as the sound of thudding metal filled the silent corridor. She shot forward again as she felt someone pressed against her. "Jumpy?" Sophia teased; her voice was as cold as ice.  
"What the fuck?" Naomi growled at her and tried to yank her locker back open. It wouldn't budge. "Just fuck off will you!" She had no choice but to use her own abilities to force the locker open. She felt a deep sense of satisfaction as the door flew open so fast it slammed off the other locker. Sophia's abilities didn't have a look in compared to Naomi's. From the smirk on the other girl's face it was exactly what she had wanted. Sophia was very pro-psychic. She enjoyed being different, being supposedly better than all the normal people in the world. That was one of the many things they had disagreed over; the need for boundaries in regards to personal space was another.

She stepped right up to her, her smirk changing to a thin lipped smile. "You've been a busy little bee. I've just been talking to DS Blunt. _Lovely_ woman." She sneered, obviously Blunt had been as friendly with her as she had been with Naomi. "She seemed to think I had something to do with Emily's disappearance-"  
"Death." Naomi corrected, curling her lip at the other girl as she tried to take a step back to put some distance between them. Once again it was exactly what Sophia wanted. As Naomi stepped back, hitting the lockers behind her, the other girl took a step forward, leaving Naomi nowhere to go. "Emily is dead, and you were the last one to see her alive!"  
"Actually I think whoever smashed her head in with a hammer was the last one to see her-"  
"WHAT?" Naomi's face paled at the thought that Emily's death really hadn't been an accident. If Sophia was telling the truth then someone had killed her. "What the fuck do you know about it?"  
"Oh." Sophia's lips twitched as she tried to bite back a smile. "You're trying to find out what happened to her and you haven't even been down to the canal. I can see you're making such an effort."  
"Of course I've been down to the canal you stupid bitch!" Naomi was not known for her patience and she was quickly losing her temper with the other girl. As was Sophia.

The blonde gasped as the taller girl surged forward, slamming her back against the lockers and pinning her arms at her side. Naomi's abilities may have been stronger but physically the other girl had the upper hand. Sophia's larger build and cadet training meant that as Naomi struggled against her she only ended up in a more precarious position with her arms pinned up by either side of her head. Her chest was heaving and her heart was pounding as Sophia leant in close. Her gaze dipped to her lips, as though she intended to kiss her. Naomi decided there and then she would scream the whole school down before she let the other girl get what she wanted.

At the last second Sophia pulled away, her eyes finally meeting Naomi's again. The anger she saw burning in the blonde's icy blue eyes did nothing to faze her. She knew she had the upper hand and she intended to use it. "So you didn't get a vision then? You didn't see how she died…I did."  
"You don't get visions." Naomi snapped, still struggling against the vice like grip around her wrists. Sophia laughed at her. When she answered her she spoke slowly as though speaking to a child.  
"I learnt Naomi. You see some of us are just born with the ability to do anything, people like you. People like me, we need to practise and to learn and to build up to bigger and better things. Well I'm learning Naomi."

Naomi didn't care what she was learning or how, the only thing she cared about was whether or not the girl was telling the truth about having a vision of Emily's death. Their kind, and it disgusted her that she and Sophia could ever be classed as the same 'kind', could sometimes get visions of past events. Usually it was of violent deaths or events that left a lasting impression in places; like they could read the energy that was left behind. Even more rarely they could get glimpses of things to come.

Well Naomi didn't need a vision of the future to see where things were leading. "I can share. If you like? Do you want to see?"  
"And what's it going to cost me this time?" Naomi snarled. "Another date? A fucking marriage proposal? What?" Sophia's eyes were alive with the delight she took in the power she had over the other girl. For once she had the blonde's full attention. Her grip on her wrists loosened a little, but she still kept the smaller girl pinned in place.  
"Do you want to see?" She repeated her question, her gaze dropping to the blonde's lips again. Sharing visions and memories required a close touch. Holding Sophia's hand would be enough for Naomi to see what she had saw, but she could see the manipulative girl had other ideas. Swallowing her pride she nodded her head ever so slightly. It wasn't good enough for Sophia. She eventually had to answer her and the 'yes' she forced out of her lips was coated in bitterness.

Another gasp escaped her lips before they were covered by Sophia's. Almost immediately a horrific scene flashed before her eyes.

_She was walking behind a rather drunk Emily who was weaving from side to side as she walked along the canal. She had her phone in her hand, oblivious to the evil that lurked behind her. __Naomi felt her grip tightening on whatever it was she had stuffed inside her jacket. She pulled it out, slowly revealing the little claw hammer that was clenched in her gloved hand. __She hated the girl in front of her. She wanted her gone, out of the way for good. The distance between them grew shorter as Naomi picked up her pace. The hammer rose in to the a__ir __before crashing swiftly down against the back of the little redhead's skull. __She didn't cry out. Didn't even make a so__und as she crumpled to the floor. __The tiny girl lay still and silent on the rain soaked ground as Naomi wiped the blood from her hammer and tossed it in to the long grass. _

"What the fuck?" Emily's startled voice snapped Naomi out of the vision. While her mind had been wandering her body had been acting on instinct and she found her hands were free and had become tangled in Sophia's curly locks. She broke the kiss off and shoved the taller girl away with all of her strength before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "So this is what you wanted time alone for? To go with that sick freak?" Emily was mad. She stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at the pair of them, and all Naomi could see was the sight of a hammer slamming in to her skull. She could still hear the sickening crunch of the blow in her mind and she felt her stomach churning.

"Hello to you too, Emily." Sophia smiled cruelly as shock registered on the other girl's face. "Oh that's right. Naomi hasn't told you has she?"  
"You can see me." Emily replied lamely, stating the obvious. She looked utterly betrayed as she stared right at Naomi. The other girl couldn't bring herself to look at her as she slumped to the floor and pulled her knees up to her chest. She was pale and shaking, but Emily didn't see that. All she could see were her lips locked on to Sophia's and it was boiling her blood.  
"Of course. Naomi's not the only special one, though she is powerful. There are lots of us Emily. Not as many as there once was, and not as powerful, but enough. See what we have, it's not magic. It's genetics. We're simply the better species. And we need to stick to our own kind-"  
"Fuck off Sophia." Naomi growled, her head resting on her knees as she focused on not throwing up. The vision had left her sick to her stomach and Emily catching her kissing Sophia had not helped. She had never felt so much guilt in her whole life. Even though she knew she had been looking through the killer's eyes it still felt as real as if she had committed the atrocious act herself.

"Whatever you want sweetie." She blew her a kiss before winking at Emily and stalking off down the hall.  
"You kissed her." Emily stood by her own locker and stared down at the blonde with a look of utter disdain. "Why would you do that?"  
"For you." Naomi replied bitterly through clenched teeth as she tried to ride the wave of dizziness that threatened to make her pass out. "Just like every fucking thing else I've done this week that I didn't want to do. It was for you Emily, ok? It's all been for you."  
"I'm sorry, how does getting off with that bitch help me?" The smaller girl snapped back petulantly, not understanding how much Naomi had done for her.  
"Sophia had a vision of how you died. She was sharing it with me-"  
"Really because it looked like the only thing she was _sharing _was her tongue!"

"Can you stop being a bitch for five seconds and just listen to me? She tricked me, again! The only way she'd show me what happened was if I kissed her… it doesn't fucking matter who I kiss. We're not together, we never were. And I'm sorry ok, I really, really am sorry that I'll never get to kiss _you, _but I'm doing my fucking best to _help_ you. I saw how you died Emily. I saw it with my own eyes…and I think we finally caught a fucking break-"  
"You're sorry you won't get to kiss me?"  
"My god woman will you focus?" The tension between them seemed to disappear in an instant as Naomi broke out in a fit of laughter. "Fucking perve."  
"You love it." Emily teased, a smile playing on her lips at the idea that Naomi wanted to kiss her. "So what did you see then? How did I die?" She was reluctant to ask, but she needed to know.

Naomi shook her head, her hair failing in to her eyes. "You don't need to know. You really don't." The image of Emily's crumpled body would forever haunt her. "I think there's some evidence down by the canal that the police haven't found yet. I'll go check it out and if I find anything I'll tell Blunt. What?" Emily's gaze was cast down at the ground. Naomi thought she was mad again, but when the redhead finally looked up again she didn't look angry; just terribly sad.  
"I'm sorry I was a bitch before. I appreciate everything you're doing for me. I do."  
"I wish I could do more." Naomi sighed as she struggled to her feet, the dizziness and nausea having passed. Her head was still throbbing though and her entire body felt weak and sluggish from the unpleasant experience with Sophia. Her wrists were red raw and she hastily pulled the sleeves of her jumper down. If Emily noticed the marks she had the good sense not to mention them.

After managing to persuade Emily to go back to Katie and Effy, and scorning her for following her in the first place, Naomi slipped out of the college just before the start of lunch and took a bus in to the city centre. When she reached the canal she relocated the spot where Emily's phone had been found smashed up from when it had fallen from her hand. Even in broad daylight the place gave Naomi the shivers. She retraced the killer's footsteps and stopped at the side of the path where the grass was overgrown. It took her a few minutes but she found what she was looking for. The small claw hammer lay peacefully where it had been discarded, dried specks of blood adorning the dull metal. Emily's blood.

It was a battle to keep her last meal down, but the blonde somehow managed it. She sat on the path beside the weapon that had killed Emily and counted to ten as she took deep calming breaths. She sat with her head tilted back, trying to catch some of the breeze on her face to try and cool down and catch her breath before she rang the police. With the sun streaming in her eyes she turned her head just a little to get out of its path and that was when she spotted it. A CCTV camera sat proudly atop a nearby lamppost, covering the path Emily and her killer had walked.


	13. Chapter 13

DS Blunt had been less than impressed when Naomi had called her asking if she knew there was a CCTV camera in the area Emily's phone had been found. With a heavy sigh the woman replied with a grouchy, "Well of course we did, my officer's aren't likely to miss that are they?"  
"Well they missed the hammer covered in blood beside it."

Within twenty minutes the whole area by the canal was cordoned off and swarming with police officers. Naomi sat in the back of Blunt's car, with the older woman frowning at her. "Why is it that every part of this case has led me back to you? Hmm? Emily left the club to meet _you_, Sophia argued with her over _you _and now _you've_found a hammer with human blood on it. Blood that could potentially belong to Emily Fitch. Which is a bit convenient seeing as the area was searched Monday afternoon!" The hammer had been thrown in the long grass and it would have been quite easy to miss if Naomi hadn't known exactly where it had been thrown. Of course she couldn't share this with the detective so she just shrugged in response.

Blunt shook her head and carried on. "We checked the CCTV, it shows Emily coming in to view of the camera and then it cuts off, we get twenty minutes of static. The next image we can see is a blonde teenager lying on the bank of the canal. So once again we're back to _you._"  
"I didn't do anything!" Naomi protested, sick of being the detective's number one suspect. Though in truth part of her suspected she could have been responsible for affecting the camera's ability to function. The energy she had used to propel herself out of the water tended to cause a magnetic field that could disrupt electronics; including the PC she had done most of her GCSE coursework on.

Blunt was wasting her time looking at Naomi when she should have been doing more important things, like establishing where Sophia was and finding Emily's body. "I wouldn't hurt Emily! You should be talking to Sophia! She's the psychopath!"  
"We've already spoken to her, Miss Black has an alibi."

"An alibi? You're kidding, right? What is it then?" Naomi couldn't believe that Sophia had nothing to do with Emily's death. It was too much of a coincidence that she had argued with her on the night and then received a 'vision' that Naomi had not been able to pick up. The blonde was stronger than her; it should have been her that picked up on the energy left over by the vicious assault. Something wasn't right. Part of her had thought the vision Sophia had shared could have been a memory of what she had done.  
"I'm afraid I can't share that, maybe you should ask Sophia-"  
"Not gonna happen." The teenager in the back of her car scoffed at her. "Trust me."

"Well the fact remains Sophia has a credible alibi, where as we have you at the scene around the time Emily disappeared, with no alibi, and you just happened to find a weapon with human blood on it. We're sending it to be tested at the lab to see if it is Emily's blood. If it is I think we'll be having another little chat."

"What a stupid bitch!" Emily grumbled as she and Naomi climbed out of the car and made their way past the police cordon.  
"You've got to admit, it doesn't look good." The blonde reluctantly admitted once they were far away from the canal and walking down a quiet side street. "'Finding' the murder weapon makes me look a little suspicious, don't you think? You know, Naomi Campbell, by the canal with the hammer…" She tried to make light of the situation, but the joke was lost on the little redhead.  
"It's Sophia's fault." Emily sulked, constantly finding more reasons to hate the other girl. "What alibi can she have? I was with her like ten minutes before I got to the canal!"

"Do you remember any of it yet?" Naomi probed, not wanting to push the other girl, but needing more for them to go on. It was looking like finding Emily's killer was becoming more about saving her own hide.  
"A little." Emily shrugged. "I remember leaving the club and Sophia bumping in to me…no wait, I think she was in the club…she followed me out. She told me she was your girlfriend and that you'd never be interested in someone like me." The last bit was added in a quieter less confident voice. If Naomi had of been able to reach out and take her hand she would have, but as it was she could only offer her words of kindness.  
"Emily you're great ok? I should have noticed that a lot sooner."  
"You're just saying that to be nice."

"Of course I'm not, I'm a bitch remember? I don't do nice." She teased, finally earning a smile out of the smaller girl. "Come on, we'll go see Sarah and find out if she's dug anything up on the Mays, then we have to go see your _lovely_ sister."  
"Admit it, she's growing on you." Emily teased back, enjoying how easy things had become between them. Just a few days ago they had barely been able to have a conversation.  
"Please. Like I want anything to do with Katie _growing_ on me."  
"Oi, she's still my sister!"

They kept up their playful banter as they walked through the quiet side streets; Emily noticed a man in raggedy clothing up ahead and mimed zipping her mouth shut. "I better keep quiet; don't want the crazy homeless man to hear you talking to yourself-"  
"Who you calling crazy?" The man grunted in a gruff, hoarse voice that had Emily jumping out of her skin. "Spare some change love?" He addressed Naomi, holding out his grubby hand for an offering.  
"You can hear me?" Emily exclaimed, her eyes wide with excitement. "And see me? Naomi he can see me! Is he one of you-"  
"Emily, he's dead." Naomi's voice was low and guarded as she watched the homeless man's ghost shift from one foot to the other, impatiently waiting for one of them to give him some money. "He doesn't know." She added in an even lower tone.

"But…but I can see him! He's dead and I can see him!" Emily repeated, still in a state of awe at finally being able to interact with part of the spirit world.  
"Who's dead?" The man grumbled, glaring at them through his beady eyes. His thick bushy eyebrows were drawn together as he scratched at his beard and scowled at the two teenage girls. "Shouldn't be talking 'bout death. 'S not right for little 'uns." The man began babbling, living up to Emily's expectations of him being crazy. Naomi recognised the fear on his face and adopted a more gentle tone as she spoke again.  
"You are. I'm sorry, you're dead sir."

The man's eyes grew as wide as saucers as he shook his head from side to side and began muttering an endless mantra of "No, no, no…" Naomi sidestepped him carefully, even though the poor man could do her no harm. Spirits had to be centuries old before they could have any physical effect on the living. Her face wrinkled as she knelt down beside one of the large metal bins in the alley. Behind it lay the rather foul smelling corpse of the homeless man. There was dried blood on his bushy beard and his face was black and blue. He looked like he had been beaten and died over the course of the previous night. "See." Naomi ushered the man over with a wave of her hand. With a wary glance at Emily, as though the pint sized teenager could do him any harm, the man slowly shuffled over. He stared down at his own body with a mixture of fear and intrigue.  
"Dead." He said the word like it was something foreign. "Dead." He repeated it again, a smile forming on his dry chapped lips.

"Naomi!" Emily called out as she noticed the skin of the man's hands beginning to glow, as though there was a light inside that was trapped and trying to force its way out. Naomi seemed unfazed by it and simply took a step back and offered the man a small smile.  
"Go in peace." It was something her mother always said to ascending spirits and it seemed to be the last bit of encouragement the man needed as the light shot through his entire body, bathing him in a golden light. Within moments the light died out and the spirit was gone. The lips of his corpse parted as it let out a heavy sigh, a sickening death rattle that turned Emily's stomach.  
"What the hell was that? He was dead and he-"  
"He moved on." Naomi replied, as though it were an everyday occurrence. Living with Gina Campbell it was. "It's called giving up the ghost, when the soul leaves the body. See spirits are just echoes. When souls are trapped inside the body, because they're not ready to let go, it's projected out, as a ghost, to try and get what it needs to move on. That's how it works." She could see the other girl was close to freaking out and she supposed she should have told her this stuff earlier, but she had assumed her mother had filled her in on the mechanics of being a ghost. Just what had they being doing in the night spent in Gina's sleeping mind?

"So my soul's still trapped in my body until I move on? Until I find out how I died. What I don't get is, he looks like he was beat up, he didn't find out who did it, they haven't been arrested, but he still moved on…"  
"He wasn't looking to find out how he died Ems. He just wanted someone to know he _had_. Come on. I don't need Blunt finding me at _another_ crime scene."  
"How do you know finding out who killed me will make me move on then?"  
"I don't." Naomi's stark honesty startled her in to silence. "I don't know if you'll move on when we find your body, or when we find your killer, or even when they go to jail. You could be stuck here until the day _they _die, or until your family deal with you being gone…I just don't know Emily."  
"What if I never move on? What if I'm stuck here forever?" Emily's lower lip was wobbling as she threatened to start crying again at the prospect of an eternal half-life; unable to touch or interact with the world around her.  
"Then you'll be stuck with me…And mum of course. You'll never be alone Emily, I promise."

Naomi had promised the other girl a lot over the course of the week they had spent together searching for answers, and she was silently praying she would be able to deliver on them. She wanted nothing more than to forget about what she could do and block out the spirit world, but if Emily didn't move on then Naomi would be stuck in her own type of purgatory too, immersed in a world she did not want to live in.

"Bet you can't wait to get rid of me." Emily meant it as a joke, but there was an undercurrent of fear in her words. Part of her feared that Naomi would soon get sick of her.  
"Well I'm willing to put off the exorcism for another week." Naomi shot back, a smirk on her lips as Emily petulantly stuck out her tongue in response. "Come on _Casper,_ we've got stuff to do."

The afternoon passed quickly and it wasn't long before the girls arrived back at the college to meet Katie and Effy. "Well?" Katie demanded, looking every bit the diva she was with her hands on her hips and her glare set firmly on the blonde.  
"Any news?" Effy asked in a slightly more polite tone. She still looked just as impatient as her girlfriend.  
"My friend at the paper found Chris May-" Naomi started, though she didn't get a chance to finish as Katie interrupted.  
"Great! So we go see him, sort out his family drama and then we find out what happened to Ems."  
Katie grinned as though it could all be that simple.  
"He moved to the Isle of Man ten years ago." Naomi finished with a heavy sigh.  
"Where's that? Scotland or something?" The oldest twin snapped impatiently, annoyed her well thought out plan had been scuppered.

"It's in the Irish sea." Naomi corrected her, having only found that out herself from Sarah. "I've got a phone number, but it's a long shot. I don't think the bloke's going to come all the way back here to speak to his dead mother, do you?" Naomi's excitement at having found the missing May had been short lived. As soon as Sarah had told her where he was living her hopes had fallen.  
"So now what?" Katie huffed, clearly fighting back tears. Effy slipped a protective arm around her waist as they all started walking towards her car.  
"Give him a call and hope he's a nutter who believes in ghosts?" Naomi replied, only half joking. She stopped short as they reached the car and the other two girls got inside.

"I need a fucking drink." Katie grumbled. She held her door open as she glared at the blonde standing beside the car. "Are you fucking getting in or what Campbell?"  
"What?" She repeated dumbly, unsure what the other girl was asking of her.  
"Drink. My. House. Yes?" The oldest twin spoke slowly as though Naomi were deaf and dumb.  
"Uhh…ok." The blonde slung her bag over her shoulder before getting in the back of Effy's car. Emily was already waiting patiently inside for her. The Fitch household was mercifully empty as the girls pulled up outside. The twins' younger brother was at a friend's house and their parents were both out too. Rob was hiding at work and Jenna was visiting her sister.

Katie led them all upstairs to the room she shared with Emily and Naomi found herself perched on Emily's bed while Effy lounged on Katie's and the smaller girl turned the room inside out looking for something.  
"It's under my bed." Emily sighed as she watched her sister rummage through a chest of drawers that sat between the two beds.  
"What is?" Naomi quizzed, momentarily forgetting herself. The other two girls looked at her like she had suddenly grown a second head. It was one thing to believe she could speak to Emily; it was another to have her start a random conversation with her in front of them.  
"The Jaeger she's looking for, I stashed it under my bed the last time mum came in."

Naomi repeated this information to Katie and moments later she retrieved a fat green bottle from underneath the younger twin's bed. They had nothing to mix it with so they drank it straight out of plastic cups with cartoon cats on them. It wasn't long before Naomi felt quite buzzed; amazingly she was actually enjoying herself. Katie had managed not to be a bitch for more than ten minutes and Effy had shown an interest in Naomi's talents, quizzing her on what she could do and how far back in her family it went. "Are you doing that?" Katie gasped as she caught sight of Naomi's glass hovering inches above her hand. The blonde hadn't even noticed she was doing it; she had been lost in listening to Effy telling her about the first time she had been introduced to the twins' parents as her girlfriend. Emily had been the main topic of conversation all evening as they drank, as though the three of them were holding their own private wake.  
"Oh. Yeah." Naomi focused on the glass and made it twirl around before bringing it back down to her waiting hand. "I guess."

She had never in her life thought she would be lying on Emily Fitch's bed, in a comfortable stupor as Katie and Effy lay cuddled up on the bed opposite her. The pair of them looked happy. Despite Katie's grief at losing her twin she was coping because of Effy's presence beside her. Naomi wished she could reach out beside her and take Emily's hand, to find comfort in her touch. "Excuse me." She mumbled as she got to her feet, just as suddenly needing to put as much distance between herself and the other girl as possible. She found the bathroom and locked the door behind her before splashing her face with water. Lying on Emily's bed, with the little redhead beside her, she had almost forgotten she was dead. In that moment she had wanted something she could never have. Sighing to her reflection she shook her head at herself. Once she felt a little more composed she unlocked the door and stepped out on to the landing, and straight in to Jenna Fitch's path. "Sorry!" She apologised as she practically walked in to the older woman.  
"That's alright- I'm sorry I don't think I know your name?"  
"Naomi." The blonde answered quickly, deciding not to add her surname in case the other woman thought she was taking the mick.

"Naomi?" Jenna's expression softened. "I'm Jenna. Katie and Emily's mum. It's nice to meet you Naomi dear. Are you staying for tea?" The evening became even more surreal as Naomi found herself sitting around a dinner table with Effy and the three Fitch women. James had arrived home as well and had been sitting opposite Naomi all throughout dinner, ogling at her chest. Emily had not been happy, but only Naomi had heard her cursing at the young boy and it had been more amusing than anything else as she turned the air blue with her expletives when she caught him staring at the blonde.  
"Naomi dear, I don't suppose you've heard from Emily have you?" Naomi's fork scraped against her plate as she was jarred by Jenna's words. Her eyes were wide and her face pale as she stumbled out a response, hoping Jenna would not pick up on the awkward looks Katie and Effy were trying to exchange with the blonde. They'd all agreed Jenna Fitch was not the type to believe in ghosts and psychics.

"No. No, I'm sorry I haven't." Naomi lied, her eyes lingering to the left of her where Emily sat looking just as sheepish. Even if Jenna has been inclined to believe her daughter's spirit was sitting at the dining room table with them Naomi did not want to be the one to tell the woman her youngest daughter was dead.  
"Oh, well if you do, please let us know. We're all worried sick. It's not like her to run off-"  
"Gordon McPhee says-"  
"James, please, if I hear one more anecdote about Gordon McPhee…" Jenna trailed off, clearly not needing to finish of her threat as her son fell in to silence. He turned his attention to other things instead.  
"So Naomi, are you a dyke too?" The blonde almost choked on the glass of wine she was drinking as the pre-pubescent boy grilled her on her sexual preferences.  
"James!"  
"Shut up pervert!" The boy's mother and sister both chastised him as the blonde's face grew as red as Emily's hair.  
"What? That's what you call them! Gordon-"

Since everyone's plates were clear Jenna called an end to dinner and excused them all from the table, chasing the youngest Fitch in to the kitchen to do the washing up. The girls escaped upstairs and locked the bedroom door as they finished off the rest of the Jaeger and the bottle of wine Jenna had opened to go with dinner. The evening quickly turned to night and before long Jenna was knocking on the door to let them know she'd locked up and was going to bed. Naomi got to her feet, intending to go home, but she stumbled and fell back down on to the bed. "You can't go home like that." Naomi stifled a giggle as the twins both said the same thing in unison. What followed from Katie sobered her a little. "Just stay over. You can have Emily's bed."  
"No objections Ems?" Effy was little worse for wear after a bottle of wine and threw the question in Naomi's general direction, presuming Emily was there.  
"Like Emily would say no to having Naomi in her bed." Katie snorted, laughing at her own joke. Emily silently glared at her sister, refusing to meet Naomi's gaze.

"I should go." Naomi objected, the fog around her brain lifting enough for her to realise staying overnight in Emily's room would be a bad idea. Especially considering she would be sharing a room with Katie and Effy as well. The last thing she wanted was to overhear their drunken fumbling. "I don't have any stuff here-"  
"Here." Effy still had a surprising amount of grace as she untangled herself from Katie's limbs and got to her feet. She took out an oversized T-shirt and tossed it at the blonde. "It's either that or one of Katie's…don't think it'll cover much though." Effy shot her a smirk as she took out a bed shirt for herself from the bottom drawer where she kept her overnight things.

Naomi begrudgingly accepted the borrowed T-shirt and fled to the bathroom to get changed. When she returned, wearing only the oversized t-shirt, the type that Effy seemed to favour to bed, it barely went down to her knees, though she knew it covered more than one of Katie or Emily's t-shirts would have. She caught Emily openly staring at her long legs poking out from under the shirt and failed to hide a smirk. After threatening the other two to keep the noise down she pulled back the covers and climbed in to Emily's bed. The pillow still smelt like the strawberry shampoo Emily had smelt of on Friday afternoon, not that Naomi had been paying that much attention that day, her memory was simply triggered by her senses being overwhelmed by the sweet scent of what was unmistakably a mixture of strawberries and Emily Fitch.

Emily lay beside her, their bodies mere inches apart. Naomi was glad the heavy duvet wrapped around her would keep out the cold feeling from being so close to the other girl's spirit.  
"You going to see mum?" Naomi whispered once she was certain the other two were asleep. Her warning having apparently not been needed as the two girls fell asleep quite quickly curled up together in the darkness. Emily shook her head so slightly that Naomi almost missed the action in the dark.  
"I thought I'd keep you company tonight."

Naomi smiled as her eyes drifted shut; the need for sleep and the urge to let Emily inside overtaking any apprehension she had about letting the other girl get too close. "I'd like that."

**Apologies again for taking a while to update. I'****ve ****got a ****promotion**** to Assistant Store Manager ****in a new store**** at work so it means I'****ve got a lot more on**** at the moment with**** recruiting and training, ****and less time to write! I'm**** still going to try my best to**** carry on with an update or two a week! Also thanks again to everyone's who's reading and for the awesome reviews. In response to a few; **_**Boo**_**, I know this isn't exactly a bubbly happy romance, but ****I ****promise**** t****here's more Naomily-ness coming up soon. **_**Iwetta**_**, I'm actually English,**** I**** hope you enjoyed your summer over here****, depending on where you go we say town centre or city centre, I'm from a city so I say city c****entre [****I'm actually a Geordie so we say "gannin' to toon" but if I wrote like that then most people would still be deciphering the first chapter ;)****]**** I'm hopefully nowhere near finished with this yet, got a lot**** of ideas and twists to get down so you all won't be finding out what happened to poor Emily just yet. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Had a hectic week at work but finally managed to get another chapter up, it's a little shorter than usual though. Thanks again to everyone who's reading and for the reviews! Most of the spirit stuff is made up, but the term 'giving up the ghost' is from the Old Testament of the Bible and did originally refer to releasing the soul with the dying breath…looks like my A-level in Religious Studies finally came in useful for something!**

Not long after Naomi's eyes drifted shut she was asleep. It took a while before she was in a deep enough sleep for her to start to dream, but when she did Emily was already waiting for her. The blonde's eyes opened slowly, as though she was waking up. A soft light hit her face from the afternoon sun hanging lazily overhead in the sky. The air was unseasonably warm, and everything in the dream felt sharp and focused, as though she really was awake. From the picnic blanket she was lying on scratching against her skin, to the weight of Emily's head resting on her chest.

The smaller girl had her eyes closed and her lips curled up in to a smile. "Wow." Naomi sighed as she turned her head to the left and then to the right, taking in the world Emily had created in her mind. They were lying in a clearing in the woods, with a lake a little off to the left of them. The water was calm and clear, with the sun shining down on it, making it look warm and inviting.  
"Your mum's been showing me how to make dreams more real. Took me a couple of days." Emily shrugged her slender shoulders, her bare arms brushing against Naomi's. She wore a flowery summer dress that went down to just below her knee and her feet were bare, resting on the crisp green grass. Her hair looked a vibrant red in the glow of the sun and there was a healthy colour to her cheeks. She looked radiant; alive.  
"So this is your lake?" Naomi didn't need to ask to know where Emily had brought them in her mind. "It's beautiful."

"I think I'm remembering it being nicer than it is." Emily chuckled, her laughter like a melody in the blonde's ears. "The water should be a little greener."  
"We should take a dip." Naomi suggested, though there was a lethargy to her tone as she lay with the smaller girl using her as a pillow. She had no intentions of moving.  
"Mhmm." Emily replied, equally as settled where she lay.

They lay on the picnic blanket for what felt like hours, peacefully enjoying each other's company. Eventually the sun began to dip below the trees and Emily rolled over so she was lying on her side, her big brown eyes staring up at the other girl. She bit her lip as she finally spoke again. "I wish I could have taken you here for real."  
"On our date?" Naomi teased, though she felt her chest tightening.  
"Yeah." Emily's gaze dropped to the blonde's lips. "Guess this will just have to do."

Naomi's eyes fluttered shut once again as the smaller girl leant forward and pressed their lips together. Her lips were soft yet firm as she initiated the kiss and Naomi eagerly kissed her back. She felt the ground sink below her and suddenly she was on her knees, kneeling on something soft. Her eyes opened and she found herself staring at a much younger Emily. Her hair was a natural chocolate brown that matched her eyes. "W-what's going on?" The blonde mumbled as she shuffled back on the bed. Younger Emily seemed oblivious to her, smiling in to space as though she wasn't there.

An older, more world weary, Emily Fitch stood at the door of the bedroom they had suddenly found themselves in. Her arms were folded across her chest as she looked sadly on at her younger self. "This isn't my memory." She replied, her voice strained. "It's yours." Naomi didn't need to be told the memory was hers, she'd dreamt of sitting in a stranger's bedroom, kissing a faceless girl, for years. She had never been able to clearly picture the girl opposite her though. She was the very first girl she had kissed. The girl who had made Naomi realise she wasn't quite straight. The girl Naomi had desperately been trying to place.

"It was you. The girl at the party was you." Younger Emily disappeared, leaving Naomi staring straight at a slightly guilty looking Emily. "Why didn't you tell me?"  
"It wouldn't have made a difference-" Emily shrugged. She'd already been dead when Naomi had confided in her about her first kiss. If she had told Naomi she was in fact the girl she had kissed all those years ago it wouldn't have made any difference. She would still have been dead.  
"It would have to me!" Naomi snapped, sounding a little distraught. "I tried so hard to remember who you were…you should have told me Emily." She wasn't just talking about their conversation a few days earlier.  
"Why? Would you have tried to steal me from Effy?" Emily managed a smirk, trying to lighten the mood. She took a seat on the bed opposite the other girl and idly laced her fingers through Naomi's in a physical attempt to keep the blonde close.

"Effy wouldn't have stood a chance." Naomi tugged her hand to pull the smaller girl forward and claimed her lips once again. She held the redhead in her arms and suddenly they were back on the picnic blanket in the woods. The sun had set and the stars were overheard. "Jesus Ems, you should have told me."  
"I shouldn't have had to." Emily objected; and she was right. No matter how drunk she was Naomi should never have forgotten the fact that the best kiss of her young life had come from kissing Emily Fitch.  
"I fucked up Ems." She shifted so they were lying face to face. Her fingers slowly pushed aside the lock of hair that had fallen over Emily's face. The smaller girl eagerly leant in to her touch. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Emily."

They lay on the blanket under the stars until Naomi's eyes began to feel heavy. Her eyelids fluttered shut and when they opened again she was lying in Emily's bed. She'd rolled over in her sleep and was facing the wall. A wall she hadn't noticed had photographs stuck to it. One in particular caught her eye. Her own smiling face stared back at her from the wall. The picture had been taken at the end of the summer, when Cook had dragged them all to a rave in the middle of some forest. Naomi hadn't been in the mood, but her best friend had worn her down with his constant pestering and she had found herself in the middle of nowhere sulking in to a can of Strongbow. Emily had been sitting with JJ on a tartan picnic blanket, playing snap. Naomi had thought it was weird that Effy had hardly spoken to her all night; though in hindsight she had obviously been with her real girlfriend. Naomi had reluctantly joined in with the card games and she'd actually had a decent night. She couldn't remember the picture being taken, but there it sat on Emily's wall. Naomi was smiling up at the camera; her arm was loosely around Emily's waist as the redhead grinned up at whoever had taken the photo.

"I wasn't stalking you or anything." She knew exactly what held the blonde's attention. "I just thought it was a good photo of me."  
"It is." Naomi turned over to face the blushing smaller girl. They lay face to face as they had in their dream, but as Naomi's hand reached out to touch her it went straight through her, sending cold shivers shooting up and down the blonde's arm. "Fuck." She sighed as she watched Emily's face fall.  
"Do you know how many times I've dreamt about having you in my bed?" Emily's voice was a husky purr in her ear and suddenly Naomi had shivers running up and down her entire body. "And now you are and I can't even touch you…god that sounded perverted didn't it?" There was a blush spread over her cheeks as she ducked her head under her arm. Naomi chuckled softly at her.  
"Yeah, that was perverted Fitch. You should be ashamed of yourself."

"God that's annoying." Both girls shot up as Katie grumbled from the other side of the room. "Listening to you flirting with my fucking sister."  
"Count yourself lucky you can't hear Emily's side." Naomi shot back. She was by no means a morning person and she struggled to deal with Katie's bitchiness at the best of times.  
"Bitch." Katie snapped back in a hissed whisper as Effy stirred beside her. The other girl grumbled something as she shuffled closer to Katie and buried her face in her chest. The oldest twin smiled down at her with something akin to awe as she pressed her lips to her sleeping girlfriend's forehead. Naomi watched silently from Emily's bed, feeling like some sort of peeping Tom as she witnessed the intimate moment.  
"You really love her."

"No shit Sherlock." Katie snapped at her again, but there was less menace in her voice. "I'm a Fitch. We don't do things by half. It's all or nothing with us." Seeing as they seemed to be having another heart to heart Naomi decided to swallow her pride.  
"I kissed Emily. Years ago at some party-"  
"Yeah I know." The other girl glared at her, and if looks could kill DS Blunt would have another murder to solve. "You kissed her and then you fucking blanked her. First day of college. I watched her making fucking puppy dog eyes over you and you just fucking looked right through her!"  
"Katie!" Emily hissed, shooting her own glare at her twin, but Katie's ears were not attuned to the voices of the dead and her sister went unheard.  
"I was drunk…I didn't remember-"  
"You didn't fucking care Campbell, and it's too late to start now. Isn't it?"

"Ignore Katie. She's a bitch." Emily hovered around the blonde as they sat at the bus stop just down the road from the twins' house. Naomi had made a hasty exit from the Fitch household after her and Katie's uneasy truce had fallen apart.  
"She's right though." The blonde mumbled, her gaze was firmly on the ground. "It's too late."

"I'm still here, aren't I?" Emily's response startled her. She blinked as she looked up to face her, the early morning sun shining straight through Emily's small form and hitting her square in the eyes. There was a fire burning in her words, a passion that Naomi wanted to share. The other girl had been dead for over a week now, and yet her spirit was still very much alive. "I'm dead, but I'm not gone Naomi. Not yet anyway. We can still be together; somehow…so stop being a fucking coward and just want me back!" The pint sized girl stood with her hands on her hips, demanding the blonde's attention.  
"Still here aren't I?" She shot back, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. "So, I was thinking of going home and going back to bed for a few hours. Sound good?"  
"Sounds great."

The girls made their way back to Naomi's house and the blonde had no problem getting back to sleep once she was lying in her own bed. Her head throbbed from how much she had drank the night before and her body was glad of the extra rest.

It was late in the afternoon when she woke up the second time and her body still felt exhausted. She slipped downstairs and raided the kitchen for painkillers and chocolate, washed down with a glass of orange juice. JJ was constantly telling her about the benefits of a little extra Vitamin C.

"You look like shit love."  
"Thanks mum. You too." Naomi grumbled in response as she slumped down at the kitchen table. Gina joined her, a strange expression on her face. Naomi had not seen her mother wearing a look like it since the day her hamster had died when she was ten. "What? What is it?"  
"It's Emily." Gina let out a heavy sigh as she glanced around to check the little redhead wasn't around. "We need to talk about Emily. Something isn't right with her-"  
"What, other than her being dead you mean?" Naomi snapped defensively. Her mother was beginning to worry her and her fear was surfacing as anger.

"She's not right Naomi and you know it!" Gina snapped back, her own temper flaring up. "Her spirit is barely a week old, she can't see her own kind, yet she's powerful enough to infiltrate our dreams!"  
"She can see ghosts now ok?" The younger blonde glared at her mother, not wanting to hear whatever she was trying to say. Naomi knew there was something off with Emily. Something not quite right with her spirit, but she hadn't been able to put her finger on it. Gina obviously had and whatever conclusion she had come to had disturbed her. Her eyes widened as she processed what her daughter had just said to her.  
"Oh. Oh dear…" She shook her head, her wide eyes looking even more haunted. "Maybe I was wrong…"  
"Wrong about what? Tell me!" Every fibre of Naomi's being told her she didn't want to know what it was her mother had figured out about Emily; but from the slump of Gina's shoulders and the set of her jaw she knew she needed to find out what she knew.  
"I don't think what we're seeing is Emily's spirit. I think it's her _soul _Naomi."

"Not possible!" The younger blonde scoffed. "Souls only leave their bodies to ascend. _You _told me that. You're wrong ok? That's not Emily's soul. It's not possible. Emily Fitch is dead, and her _ghost_ is waiting upstairs for me-" Naomi got to her feet and intended to storm off upstairs; but her mother's next words stopped her in her tracks.  
"No. I don't think she is…I don't think Emily's dead."


	15. Chapter 15

"Naomi, you need to understand! There's a big difference between not being dead and being alive. Whatever happened to Emily…it was bad enough to rip her soul from her body. If she isn't dead, then she's not far from it love…She's seeing ghosts now, she's slipping further in to the spirit world. That's not a good sign." Naomi sat in stunned silence as she listened to her mother, unable to really process what she was saying.  
"What happens?" Her voice came out as a strangled croak. "If her body dies without her soul inside. What happens to Emily?"  
"I'm not an expert love-"  
"But you've got an idea."  
"I could be wrong…"  
"Tell me!"

Gina sighed as she took her daughter's hand and wrapped it in her own. "Souls are only supposed to leave the body on the _last _breath. If Emily's body dies without her soul inside, then she'll be trapped in this world love. There won't be any way for her to move on. She won't ever find peace."  
"I have to find her." Naomi's chair crashed to the floor as she jumped to her feet. "There has to be a way I can find her body-"  
"Maybe we should tell Emily first. I have a friend who specialises in-"  
"I can't." Naomi shook her head as she pulled on her jacket and yanked the zip up. "_I _was the one who told her she was dead! I can't go up there and tell here there's a slim chance she might be alive, just to take it away again…"  
"She has the right to know Naomi!"

"And she will! When I've actually got something to fucking tell her!" She slammed the door behind her as she stormed out. She had no idea where she was going; she just had to get out of the house. She had to be doing _something. _Anything but thinking about the consequences of her mother being right about Emily. She had told Emily she was dead, she had overlooked the things that hadn't added up and wasted a week looking for her killer when they should have been focusing on saving Emily.

She had witnessed Emily's attack, she had watched as her little body had crumpled to the ground and lay there as still as the grave. Her body was missing though. So whoever had attacked her must have taken her somewhere, and for her to still be alive a week after the attack they must have been taking care of her somehow; or maybe she had been dumped somewhere and her body was running on bare minimum to survive. Human beings were capable of amazing things, their bodies adapting to preserve their lives for weeks on end. They had already lost a week though. How much longer could Emily's body hold out? If she could just _find _her. Somewhere Emily's heart was still beating, and as long as it was there was still a chance.

"Well if it isn't Cook's little bull-dyke!" One of the footballers from college hollered at the top of his voice. Naomi had been walking to the canal and she was standing on one of the quieter city streets with three burly footballer players surrounding her. It had barely been dark for an hour and the teens were already drunk. The smell of stale beer and cheap cologne was overpowering enough to turn her stomach. She wasn't scared of them as they circled her like a pack of wild rabid dogs. Her grief and confusion had compounded in to anger and she felt a vile rage building in the pit of her stomach. She felt more scared of her rising temper than of them. Her clenched fists were shaking by her sides as her icy blue eyes glared at the mouthy one who seemed to be self-appointed leader. She recognised them as the kids from college who had picked on JJ last Friday. So much had changed in the week that it almost felt like Friday had been a lifetime away. She had forgotten all about the boys and their teasing, but apparently they hadn't forgotten about her.

"Where's your girlfriend bitch? Fucking JJ is she? He's a girl isn't he?" The mouthy one's drunken friends roared with laughter as though he were the headlining comedian at the Apollo. None of them saw the way Naomi's eye twitched, nor paid attention to the way the shaking in her firsts spread throughout her body. When they did notice they laughed harder, mistaking her anger for fear. "What's a matter little girl? Scared of the big bad men?" The ring leader leered at her as he drew closer, his bloodshot eyes raking over the curves of her body. "I can sort you out love."

"Sort me out?" Naomi growled through clenched teeth, struggling to hold on to what little control she had left. "The only thing you're going to need to sort out is whose balls belong to who when I rip them all fucking off! Take my advice and leave. Now!" The group fell in to silence as her words settled over them. A moment later they erupted in to a chorus of laughter which just about snapped Naomi's last nerve.  
"You want to touch my balls babes? All you had to was ask!" One of the lads who had been quiet so far grabbed her wrist and tried to wrestle her hand to his crotch.

Naomi yanked her hand back and beside them the lid of a metal dustbin exploded up in to the air, showering missiles of rubbish at the group. The one had grabbed her, who was closest to the bin, yelped in surprise as an empty drinks can struck the side of his head. It left a deep gash on his forehead which began to bleed. Naomi felt the tension in her body easing as she allowed her abilities to take over. It felt like a tightly wound coil was uncurling from around her insides as around her the windows of a bus shelter shattered, trees lurched violently like they were about to be ripped from their roots and car alarms began screaming in protest to the disturbance. The air around her crackled with energy. She had not been feeding off a spirit for a week. She had been storing the energy of Emily's _soul, _and if the energy from a ghost was like a battery pack, then feeding from a person's exposed soul was like plugging herself directly in to the mains.

With a single flick of her wrist the boy who had tried to grab her was sent hurtling backward, crashing in to his two friends. The three drunken teens fell to the ground like knocked over bowling pins, landing in a heap of tangled limbs. She took a step towards them and indulged in the pleasure of seeing them cower and shake. The mouthy one was as silent as the grave and there was a foul smelling damp patch on the front of his jeans. The big 'man' had wet himself with fright.

"Naomi! Stop!" A voice called out from behind her, pulling her back to her senses. It hadn't been the voice she had expected, but it still managed to make her stop and take in the destruction around her. There was broken glass and rubbish all over the road around them and the three boys cowering in front of her were close to tears. Their faces were pale and their eyes were wide with fear. They were terrified of her. Of what she could do.  
"Go." She choked out, not trusting her voice to try and say anymore as she slumped to the curb, her entire body felt heavy and lethargic.  
"Fucking freak!" The mouthy one found his voice again as he and his friends scrambled away. He was right. She was a freak. A dangerous freak.

"You ok?" Her saviour took a seat beside her on the curb. The blonde shook her head, barely able to lift her gaze to look the other girl in the eye.  
"Not really." She croaked out. "Have you ever felt like your whole world is falling apart?" Effy smirked beside her, as though she had just cracked a joke. She placed her hand on Naomi's knee and gave it a small squeeze.  
"I've just been to see my psychiatrist Naomi. A year ago I tried to kill myself because my whole world was fucked up…so yes. Yes I have."  
"Psychiatrist?" Naomi was surprised. She had known Effy had issues and had attempted suicide towards the end of the first year, but she had not expected the other girl to be so open about it all.  
"Don't worry. I don't listen to the voices. Much." Again she smirked as though she had just cracked some sort of secret joke that Naomi was meant to get. "My doctor's nice enough I guess. She wants to talk too much though. I'm not a big talker."

Naomi laughed at that. It was an understatement if ever she had heard one. "Isn't that the whole point of therapy? To talk about shit?"  
"Actually I think they just want you to talk about how shit your life is to feed their own fucking egos and reaffirm their own worthless existences." Effy replied, her tone quite harsh. Clearly therapy didn't agree with her.  
"Does it help?" Naomi probed, wondering whether she could ever talk to someone about her problems. Not that any of them would believe her when she told them she could see dead people and make bins blow up with her mind. They'd probably end up committing her.

"What's happened Naomi?" Effy's tone softened a little, but there was still an edge to her words, letting Naomi know she wouldn't accept anything but the truth.  
"I lost control. It shouldn't have happened." Naomi sighed in to the palms of her hands as she used them to cover her face. "I hate this. I hate that I can lose it so easily. I'm juiced up from being around Emily and it's fucking dangerous. I could have killed them!"  
"But you didn't." Effy interrupted, trying to support her friend. "You stopped yourself. That's all that matters."  
"I never wanted this Effy. I tried to give up what I was, because I never wanted anything like _this_ to happen! I never wanted to be a _freak!__" __  
_"You're not." The other girl shifted beside her and wrapped her long slender arms around the blonde's waist. "You're special Naomi. Trust me. I see it. Emily does too."

At the mention of Emily's name Naomi broke down in tears. She buried her face in Effy's shoulder and sobbed her heart out. Effy waited patiently until she had calmed down and asked her again what was wrong. She sat patiently silent as Naomi told her everything that had happened, from falling asleep with Naomi to storming out of her house earlier. "You need to tell Emily. She deserves to know she's still alive-"  
"She's dying Effy. What if I tell her she's alive and then she dies for real? How am I supposed to tell her that she's dead twice? How can I do that to her?"  
"You have to Naomi. She needs to hear it from you."

A heavy silence settled between the two girls. Effy pulled out a packet of cigarettes and offered one to Naomi after she had pulled one out for her herself. The blonde took it; her hand was still shaking as she struggled with her lighter. Effy snatched it out of her hands and lit her cigarette for her before pocketing her lighter. Naomi was too pre-occupied to care. She took a long deep draw from the cigarette between her lips, the mixture of nicotine and toxic chemicals calming her shattered nerves. "I'll tell her." She finally broke the silence as she exhaled. "Once we know for sure. Mum has a friend who can tell us for sure."  
"So what are we waiting for?" Effy got to her feet and held her own cigarette between her lips as she held out her hand for Naomi to take. "I'm going to have to tell Katie about this, unless you want to do it?"  
"Fuck no!" The blonde snorted in disgust. She would rather eat the shards of glass littered around her than tell Katie Fitch she might have been wrong about her sister being dead. Effy was right; they'd need more information before they told either twin.

They formulated a plan between them on the walk back to Naomi's house and by the time they walked through the door Naomi had stopped shaking. She felt a little more reassured after confiding in Effy; though she was not looking forward to trying to lie to Emily about why she had taken off earlier in the evening. As it turned out she didn't need to. Emily was being distracted by a plump elderly woman with long silver hair and thick wide glasses that sat on the end of her nose. She was the epitome of a stereotype with her brightly coloured clothing and numerous gold rings and bracelets adoring her hands. She spoke very animatedly in a thick Irish accent and every time she moved her hands her many bracelets jangled against one another. Her eyes narrowed slightly as they fell on the two girls at the door, though she quickly lost her frosty demeanour and replaced it with an overly friendly smile. "Naomi dear! Lovely to see you again! I've just been meeting little Emily here. She's just darling!" Emily beamed over at the blonde. She didn't seem angry with her for leaving without telling her. Emily was a social creature and she was thrilled at being able to talk to someone new.

Effy's eyes lingered on the spot beside Gina on the sofa, where Emily sat perched. She noticed the Irish woman watching her and dropped her gaze. "Ida." Naomi forced a friendliness she didn't feel in to her voice as she greeted the older woman. She had never been fond of the dotty old medium, but if she could confirm what was going on with Emily than Naomi would force a smile and play nice with the old fruit bat.  
"I was telling Ida about Emily and she just had to meet her dear." Gina seldom did subtle well, but Emily seemed oblivious to the hidden meaning of her words. So they hadn't told her yet. Naomi felt herself letting out the breath she had been holding in since she had walked through the front door.  
"Oh yes. Emily's _very_ special. I'm afraid I need to be off now, Naomi would you be a dear and walk me to my car?"  
"Of course." Naomi waited for the silver haired woman to say her goodbyes and then offered her arm out to her. Ida's bony fingers wrapped around her arm as she shuffled towards the front door.

She waited until they were outside and standing by her car before she finally dropped her arm and turned on the ageing woman. "Well?" She snapped impatiently as the old woman fumbled with her car keys.  
"Emily's a beautiful young lady."  
"Yes, I know, I do have eyes! Is she dead or what?" Ida's tired old eyes settled on the younger blonde as though she was staring through to her very soul.  
"She's pretty, yes. But I was talking about her soul. You see girlie, that there girl of yours is no spirit. That's the girl's soul in there, and it is beautiful. She is a good person! Caring, honest, patient…perhaps you should follow her example."  
"You learnt all this just from looking at her?" Naomi scoffed. Ida was not a psychic, she was a medium and while she couldn't make things explode or read a person's mood, she could look at a spirit and instantly know their life stories, their motivations and their downfalls. She could see what was really hidden in the depths of living people's souls and read the dead like large print books.  
"No dear." Ida rolled her eyes at her. "I spoke to the wee lass. Any fool could see there isn't a bad bone in that girl's body. Something forced her soul out of her body, it's rare but it happens-"

"So she's alive then?" Naomi just wished the older woman would be straight with her and get to the point. She didn't need a lecture on how great Emily was.  
"For now. Her soul is growing stronger, which means her physical body is growing weaker-"  
"How long has she got?"  
"I can't answer that with any certainty." Ida's steely eyes softened as she stared down at Naomi. She suddenly looked her age, a respectable sixty-two, and rather than looking like the hardened battle-axe that Naomi had known since being six years old, she looked frail and tried. She looked much older. "But I wouldn't say long. I'm sorry." She patted the younger girl's shoulder before climbing in to her car.

"She's alive." Naomi repeated, ignoring the pitying looks Ida was giving her. She was drawing strength from the knowledge that Emily was indeed still alive. There was still a chance. It wouldn't be easy, but if they could just find Emily in time then maybe they could save her.

Her renewed strength wavered slightly as she turned around and found Emily standing by the open door, waiting for her. There was a crease in her brow from worrying as she watched Naomi slowly trudge up the garden path towards her. "What's going on?" She asked in her quiet husky voice as her eyes searched Naomi's for any sign of what was troubling the blonde. Now that they knew for sure Emily was alive she had to be told. And as Effy had told her, it was Naomi's job to break the news to her.

**A big thanks to everyone who's reading/reviewing! The support for this story has been amazing so far and it's great to know people are enjoying it! This fic has been nagging me to be written even before I started my last two Naomily fics, but I kept putting it off till I could work everything out in my head, so hopefully it will all tie together properly in the end!  
**


	16. Chapter 16

"Come on grumpy guts, it's lovely in here." Emily grinned at the blonde from the water's edge. Her lower body was in the water while she rested her arms on the shore and tried to coax Naomi in to the water with her. The other girl sat on their picnic blanket and shook her head.  
"I need to tell you something."  
"Then tell me in the water." Emily pleaded again, her wide doe eyes staring up at her. "Come on. Please?" Naomi rolled her eyes, but she did move from the blanket and over to Emily. She knelt down by the edge and was pleasantly surprised when Emily pushed herself up and stole a kiss. An impish smile spread across her lips.  
"I could get used to this. I know it's not real. It's just a dream to you…but this is as real as it gets for me now. And it's pretty damn good."

"Emily…"Naomi started, but she had no idea how to continue so she lapsed in to silence as Emily's hand caressed her cheek. She nuzzled in to her touch. "It's not. It's not good enough." Emily took her words the wrong way and pulled away with a frown. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant…fuck… Emily there's a chance…we think…we think you might not be dead."  
"What?" Emily's smile wavered as she tried to work out whether the other girl was teasing her or not. "But you said…you told me I was dead! I'm a fucking ghost Naomi-"  
"No. You're not. You're something else. That's why Ida was here. You're not a ghost Emily, you're a _soul_. You shouldn't exist, but you do. And we don't know what it means right now. Other than you're not dead. Somewhere, somehow, your heart is still beating. We need to get you back in your body before it's too late..."

"And if we can't?" Emily pulled herself out of the water and sat beside Naomi with her feet still dangling over the edge and in to the warm still water of the lake. The sun was shining down on them, warming the skin exposed from her bikini. She could feel the slight breeze picking up in the air, could smell the damp musty smell of nature that had always clung to the clearing around the lake. Everything felt so real to her, and yet it was all an illusion. A cheap trick of her imagination. The hand cradling hers was no more real than the water lapping at her feet.

"If your body dies before your soul can get back inside…you won't ever find peace. You'll be stuck here. Forever."  
"Bet you're wishing you never promised to stay with me now." Emily cracked, though there was little humour in her voice. "Forever's a long time."  
"I meant it." Naomi squeezed her hand. "You won't ever be alone. Not while I'm still breathing. And even after, there'll always be people like me Ems, people who can see you."  
"What if I get back in my body in time?" The smaller girl shuffled closer to the blonde as the beads of water running down her skin began to turn cold.  
"I don't know." Naomi admitted with a sigh as her arms wrapped around the smaller girl. "We don't know what state your body's in."  
"There's a chance though, right?" Emily muttered in to the crook of her neck. "There's still a chance." Naomi nodded her head slightly. There was a chance. It was slim; but there was no point in telling Emily that. She couldn't give her hope and then just take it straight back from her.

Naomi's eyes opened slowly the following morning. She felt the tendrils of sleep still clinging to her as she struggled to wake up. She and Emily had spent the night together by the lake and the blonde had fought to keep her dream alive as the real world had dragged her away. "Naomi!" Gina called up again; her earlier calls having been the thing that had finally roused Naomi from sleep. "Ida's here."  
"Great." Naomi grumbled sarcastically in response as she dragged herself out of bed and pulled on a dressing gown.

The wrinkled old woman sat hunched at the kitchen table, nursing a cup of green tea. Her beady eyes lingered on the girls as they made their way in to the kitchen. "Good morning Ida." Emily greeted her with a warm smile. As much as Naomi seemed to despise the woman Emily had enjoyed talking to her the evening before.  
"Good morning Emily. Naomi." She added a little more curtly. The blonde barely acknowledged her as she took a seat at the table. She had once again woken up with a pounding headache and a sickly feeling in the pit of her stomach, like she was nursing a hangover that had refused to leave her for a week.

"You look like hell love." Gina commented as she put a plate of dry looking toast down in front of her. Naomi pushed it aside, turning her nose up at it and stealing Gina's glass of orange instead. "Did Emily keep you up all night?" The younger blonde choked on the orange juice she was drinking.  
"Mum!"  
"Dreaming dear." Gina beamed innocently at her daughter. "You need your rest. And you need to eat." She pushed the toast back under her nose, turning her stomach with the smell.

"I'm fine! And I'm not fucking hungry!" Naomi's anger was still burning just below the surface and as she raised her voice she sent the plate flying off the table and smashing against the wall. Gina just shook her head like her daughter was a child who had just thrown her plate in a tantrum. That was exactly what she was, except she had used her mind to send the plate crashing against the wall. "I'm fine." She repeated again as Gina hovered over her, fussing.  
"It's the soul." Ida nodded towards Emily. "A raw soul is a very powerful thing, and right now it's powering that girl up like a generator! You need to let it out! If you store too much energy up you'll explode girlie, mark my words-"  
"Consider them marked." Naomi snapped back dryly. "What are you doing here anyway? Did you come to help Emily or what?"

"There's not much we can do to help her. Not without her body." Ida narrowed her cloudy grey eyes at the blonde. "Now where are you going?" The pensioner snapped impatiently as Naomi rose to her feet, seemingly ignoring her.  
"Where do you think?" Naomi growled back. "I'm going to find Emily. This fucking curse has got to be good for something-"  
"Oh and how do you plan to do that? When a psychic tracks a body they're tracking the soul trapped inside. Emily's soul isn't in her body." Ida spoke down to the blonde like she was chastising a child. It did nothing to quell the rage slowly building inside the young woman.  
"How about you help me instead of just fucking lecturing me?"

"Naomi!" Emily and Gina both chided the frustrated blonde.  
"Love I know you're upset, but that's no reason to take it out on Ida." Gina added sternly.  
"I'm not upset, I'm fucking pissed off!" Naomi finally lost it and slammed her fist down on the table. "Emily's alive somewhere and we're sitting in the kitchen drinking fucking tea!" The old woman's features softened in response to the teenager's angry outburst.  
"All that pent up energy is turning to rage. That's not healthy and it won't help you find the girl. Use your head, your juiced up on energy from Emily's soul, there'll still be traces in her body as long as she's alive…you can't track the soul, but you can track the energy."  
"Thank you." Naomi reluctantly managed to thank the other woman. She finally had something to go on. "I'll be home late." She shot over her shoulder to her mother as she made her way to the front door. She opened it just as the doorbell went off.

"Naomi." The one person Naomi wanted to see less than Ida was DS Blunt and the woman was standing on her doorstep, that tight smile on her lips.  
"Look I've got stuff to do, so unless you're here to arrest me-"  
"Actually. I am." Blunt's word instantly silenced the glaring blonde.  
"What? You can't seriously think I had anything to do with Emily-"  
"No, Emily I can't prove. Not yet anyway. I'm here about an incident that took place last night. A bus stop was vandalised, and several bins were emptied all over the street. Some officers stopped a group of lads nearby. They were pretty drunk, pretty shaken up too. Said you'd attacked them."  
"I didn't-"

"CCTV from three shops and an ATM cover the bus stop Naomi." Once again the blonde lapsed in to silence. There was no point in arguing she hadn't done anything when it had all been caught on tape. Not that it would show Naomi _physically _doing anything, but it would expose her secret. "And not a single one of them worked from the moment you walked passed them. Exactly the same thing that happened at the canal. Funny coincidence that, isn't it?" The detective was glaring at her, as though attempting to see right through the younger woman. Naomi shrugged her shoulders and held her chin up high, trying to bluff her way out of the situation. Without the CCTV it was her word against a bunch of drunken teenager boys. Blunt seemed to read her mind and Naomi felt the woman's aura change from anger to desperation.  
"I can't link you to this, but mark my words Miss Campbell, before long I'll get you for something."  
"What exactly is your problem with me?" Naomi couldn't hold her tongue anymore and she finally snapped at the older woman.  
"My problem is that your name keeps popping up over and over in my investigation. I don't like that Naomi. There's something about you, and I guarantee you I'll find out what."  
"Good luck with that." Sensing the woman's frustration Naomi pushed passed her and out the door with Emily following behind her. Blunt had nothing on her.

"What a fucking cow!" The redhead ranted as she followed Naomi down the street. She had no idea where they were going but she presumed the other girl did. "Don't worry Naoms, she's got nothing-"  
"Actually she does. She just doesn't know it." Naomi cut her off. "Thee CCTV went off because of what I did. The same thing happened at the canal, _before _I fell in. Someone like me was there."  
"Some like Sophia." Emily picked up on her train of thought immediately.  
"Exactly."

"What the fuck?" Sophia snarled as Naomi's hand clamped around her throat and slammed her back against her locker. She was stronger than the blonde and inevitably it didn't take much for her to free herself. She shoved Naomi away from her as she waited for an explanation for the unprovoked attack.  
"Where is she?"  
"This again!" The other girl rolled her eyes as though she was bored. "I have an alibi Naomi, just ask Detective Blunt-"  
"I don't fucking care what she thinks!" Naomi lunged at Sophia again, but the cadet was too fast for her and easily pushed her back. "I know you hurt her! Did you get someone to lie for you? Or did you influence them to say what you wanted?"

"Like I'm that powerful." Sophia scoffed. "I can't influence a person's will, even you can't do that."  
"Six months ago you could barely move a pencil." Naomi snapped back. She stood her ground in front of the other girl, but didn't try to go for her again. "You're stronger. You could have learnt to do it!"  
"I am stronger. I embraced who I was Naomi. Try it, you might like it… As for Emily I didn't do anything to her…What can I do to make you believe that?" Sophia almost looked sincere as she pleaded with the blonde. Naomi wasn't fooled though.  
"Nothing, because I know you're involved." Naomi got right up in her face as she added. "And I _will _prove it!" She made sure she shoved the other girl as she walked away. She didn't have time to waste playing games with Sophia. Finding Emily was her priority. Dealing with her would-be killer would have to come second.

"I wish I could remember something useful." Emily sighed as she fell in to step with the blonde and trudged the familiar corridors of the college. "I remember arguing with Sophia, but I don't remember her following me to the canal..."  
"It's not your fault you can't remember." Naomi objected, trying to make Emily feel a little less useless. "What happened and why doesn't matter right now. Finding you does."  
"So what are we waiting for?"

They started down by the canal. Naomi focused hard on Emily's energy and tried to pick up a trace of it in the area. All living things gave off their own energy signature and left a trace of themselves behind wherever they went. She could feel the faintest hint of Emily's energy by the spot where the hammer had been found, but it was old and hard to pick up on. Naomi tried to follow the trail but it disappeared at the roadside. Her body hadn't been left near the canal. Whoever had attacked Emily had taken her with them.

The blonde walked the road, hoping to pick up on the energy source again. After twenty minutes of following a weak trail she found herself in the middle of a housing estate and she felt a sudden pull up ahead. It was stronger, newer. The source of the familiar energy was fresh.

Emily was close by.


	17. Chapter 17

Apologies for how long it's taken me to update. My new store opens in a couple of weeks and we're busy training two dozen people in four different stores across the North East so I'm pretty much living at work right now.

"We're close!" Naomi could feel the energy growing closer. The lure of Emily's life force pulling her in. "This one!" She pointed at a house that looked just like all the rest in the street. A sense of familiarity washed over Emily, but before she could place it the door opened and both girls stopped in their tracks.  
"Fuck." Naomi felt all of her excitement and hope disappear. She had been certain they were close to finding Emily and in an instant that had all been taken away from her.

"Nice to see you too Campbell, fuck you doing here anyway?" Katie pulled her leopard print dressing gown more tightly around herself as she glared at the blonde.  
"Looking for Emily. I can sense her energy."  
"Why would she be here?" The other girl snapped, her scowl threatening to become a permanent feature on her face as she stared Naomi down.  
"She wasn't. It was you." Naomi sighed, not feeling up to explaining everything to Emily's twin. "You're identical twins. At one time you were a single cell, a single _soul_ until you split in two! That's why I thought you were Emily."  
"Nice one Naomi. Can't you tell the fucking difference between alive and dead?"  
"She's not dead."

"You fucking said she was dead you bitch!" Katie screamed at the blonde for the umpteenth time as she paced up and down Effy's living room. It seemed Effy hadn't shared the fact that Emily was still alive. Her girlfriend sat curled up in one of the arm chairs, her eyes on Naomi as she tried to explain everything once again.  
"I thought she was." She let out a heavy sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. Her migraine was growing steadily worse with each passing day and repeating everything a million times for Katie Fitch to understand wasn't helping. "Look don't get your hopes up Katie. Emily was hurt pretty bad…she might not last much longer-"  
"Then what the fuck are we waiting for?" Katie snarled. "We have to go find her!" She looked ready to charge out of the house despite still being in her slippers and dressing gown. "You can track her right? Like you did with me? We can find her? Right?"  
"Go get dressed. If you're with me I won't be tracking you down all day. Hurry up."

Katie raced out of the room to get dressed, leaving Naomi and Effy alone. Effy's eyes lingered on Naomi for a few moments before she broke the silence that had settled in the room. "Do you really think you'll find her in time?" Effy's quizzical gaze was glued to the blonde; the intensity of her stare unnerving her. She shrugged, not really sure of how to answer her. Part of her wanted to believe they could find Emily in time, but she knew they didn't have much time left. Emily had been clinging to whatever remnants of life she had left for over a week; pretty soon her body would begin to shut down, leaving an empty shell behind.  
"We can try...It should be easier when I know where Katie is."

Effy's gaze faltered from Naomi to the spot beside her where Emily sat. Her eyes lingered for a few seconds. "Emily might be my pretend girlfriend but I love her too. It's different with Katie, obviously…but I do love Ems."  
"I love you too Eff. Can you tell her that?" Emily's big brown eyes turned on Naomi. "She's like a sister to me."

A small smile graced Effy's lips. A genuine sign of affection, not the smirk she usually bore. "She knows Ems." Naomi's voice was strained as she stared back at Effy.  
"Just tell her Naoms? Please?"  
"No. She _heard _you." Naomi clarified as her eyes narrowed at Effy. "Didn't you? You keep looking at Emily. You've been doing it all week, I just thought you were guessing where she was, but you can see her can't you?"  
"What are you talking about?" Emily snapped, her harsh tone making her sound more like Katie than herself. "Of course she can't-"  
"Only vaguely." Effy's admission stunned Emily in to silence. "I've only just started hearing her. She's quiet, like a whisper in my ear, but she's there." Effy's own voice dropped lower so that Katie wouldn't overhear them.

"Last year I started hearing voices. Other people's voices… Their thoughts. That's why I tried to kill myself. Afterwards the voices went away… but now they're back."  
"How long?" There was an unmistakable edge to Naomi's voice. She understood what it was like to want to hide something from the rest of the world, but if Effy could see Emily and read people's thoughts then she was obviously sensitive too. She could have been helping with looking for Emily.  
"A couple of weeks…but it's been worse this week. Ever since Emily-"

"Emily's soul is charging you up; it's making it harder to control what you can do. My mum can help-"  
"Help with what?" Katie popped her head in the door again, but from the way Effy was glaring at her Naomi knew better than to answer honestly.  
"Finding Emily. I'll ask mum and Ida to help us." The blonde lied with practised ease. She'd keep Effy's secret safe for her, but she would have to get the other girl on her own to find out more about what was going on with her.

"You look like Emily." Effy's statement might have seemed redundant considering she was talking about her girlfriend's twin, but Naomi had to agree with her. Katie had forgone the usual short skirts and high heels and had instead opted for a more practical outfit of sweatpants and trainers. Her hair was pulled back and for once she hadn't overdone it with the makeup.  
"Emily looks like me." Katie scoffed. It was a rehearsed answer, one that she had given people for years. She was the oldest twin after all; but there was a haunted look in her eyes, as though she knew if her sister died she would be the only part of Emily left behind; a constant reminder of what the world had lost. "What are we waiting for then?"

"I've got therapy. I'll catch up with you guys later. Let me know if anything comes up." Effy wrapped her slender arms around Katie and placed a chaste kiss to her lips, aware her girlfriend was still not used to public displays of affection other than in front of her long suffering twin.  
"You had therapy on Monday." A frown creased across Katie's delicate features, though it was more from concern than annoyance. "Are you ok babes?" She tried to discreetly look from Effy to Naomi, as though contemplating whether to go with the blonde to help her sister or to stay and look after Effy.

"You worry too much." Effy kissed the top of her head and sent Naomi a look that said not to mention she had been to see her therapist the day before too. Naomi replied with a slight nod of her head and her own look. One that told Effy they would be having a talk later on. If it had been Effy's mind reading that had sent her over the edge the year before then Naomi knew a therapist would be of no use. Effy needed to talk to her own kind. To people who could help her cope with the barrage of voices and feelings flooding her head. Whilst Naomi could pick up on people's moods she had thankfully never been privy to their private thoughts, something she was grateful for. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to know exactly what people were thinking.

"You know something don't you?" It seemed Effy wasn't the only mind reader amongst them. The second they were outside of Effy's house Katie turned on Naomi with a fierce scowl. "Spit it out Campbell!"  
"I don't know what you're talking about." The blonde tried to brush her off, but Katie Fitch was not easily fooled. Her eyes narrowed and her lips stayed set in a permanent frown.  
"You should tell her!" Emily took her twin's side as she mirrored her scowl perfectly and Naomi found herself flanked on both sides by angry Fitches. "If it was me I'd want to know! Effy can hear what we're thinking!" Emily looked genuinely horrified by the prospect of having Effy inside her head.  
"Not you." Naomi mumbled just loud enough for Emily to hear, Katie was stalking ahead of them, still in a strop with the blonde.

"Right. Because I'm a ghost, or a fucking soul, or whatever! Thanks Naomi, for a second there I forgot!" The redhead glared at her before disappearing from sight, probably off to tell Gina about how her daughter was being a prick to her again.  
"Fuck." Naomi cursed before picking up the pace to catch up to Katie. In the space of two minutes she had managed to piss of both twins. "Katie, wait up!" She finally managed to fall in to stride with the oldest twin, who could set a surprisingly fast pace for such a small person. "Are you crying?" She watched as the other girl furiously wiped at her eyes.

"My sister is missing, probably dying, and my girlfriend is fucked in the head…" Katie stopped abruptly and she couldn't hold back her tears any longer, they streamed down her cheeks as she choked back a sob. "I'm terrified she's going to do something stupid. Again." She lurched forward and wrapped her arms around Naomi in an awkward embrace as she buried her face in the blonde's shoulder. Naomi, unsure of what to do with a crying Katie, patted her on the back. "I can't lose them both. I just can't." Katie's sobs grew louder, shaking her entire body. Reluctantly Naomi slipped her arms around the other girl and held her until the tremors stopped.

It felt strange to be comforting a girl who had always been such a bitch to her; but then the boundaries of all of their friendships had shifted. Naomi had become part of the select few who knew about Effy and Katie's relationship. She had found herself migrating in to their group. Where Cook and JJ had always been part of that crowd she had been hanging on the edge, friends with the girls only through her boisterous best friend.  
"We won't." Naomi forced herself to sound more sure than she actually was. "We're not losing either of them. Come on, we need to get down the canal." Katie finally pulled away from the blonde, though she kept their arms linked together as they walked down the street.  
"Better not tell anyone I hugged you Campbell." The smaller girl managed a wry smile as she started to pull herself back together.  
"I'm telling Eff." Naomi shot back with a smirk.

They lapsed in to a comfortable silence as they made their way to the canal. Once Naomi was back at the spot where Emily had vanished from she was able to pick up on her energy again. Katie's own energy was buzzing beside her, but rather than being a distraction it helped her to focus on the difference between Emily's aura and Katie's. She was only able to follow the trail halfway up the main road from the canal, it had grown fainter since they'd reached the road and as Naomi slumped against a wall in defeat she had to admit to Katie she couldn't follow it any further. "Someone had to have taken her. Maybe in a car or a van or something?"

"That's good right?" Katie urged. "I mean if someone took her then they want her alive, right?" Naomi wasn't so sure. She had witnessed Emily's attack. It had been brutal and without hesitation. The fact that her attacker had taken her god-knows-where was of little comfort to Naomi. It seemed to give Katie hope though so she made no comment. The oldest twin needed to cling on to what little optimism she had left. "What now?"

"I don't know. We can see if mum or Ida have had any more luck…" She trailed off as she caught sight of the spot where Mrs May had been run down. She pulled out her mobile and took a deep breath before dialling an unfamiliar number. It rang a few times before going through to voicemail. "Um…Hi. My name is Naomi, this is going to sound really weird but I'm calling about your mum and sister…look you're probably going to think I'm nuts or something but they're not at peace. I've seen them and…and they need to see you. It's important. Please. Call me back." Katie was staring at her like she'd grown a second head as she hung up the phone. "I know, it's a long shot-"  
"No." Katie shook her head. "It's something."

"You should have told me. _And _Katie." Emily scowled at Effy as she emerged from her therapist's office. Effy ignored her until they were outside and far from prying eyes. The last thing she needed was for her therapist to see her talking to thin air.  
"Couldn't." Effy shrugged. She had never felt able to talk to anyone about what she could do. She had only confided in Naomi because they shared a similar burden; both were cursed with something they didn't want.  
"You've always been able to tell me stuff Eff." Emily pressed on as Effy took a seat at the bus stop. Thankfully she was the only one waiting so she could answer the other girl and not look like a nut.  
"Not this." Effy muttered bitterly. "Sorry."  
"At least talk to Naomi. She can help-"

"She's a little pre-occupied with you at the moment." Effy shot her a sly smirk and watched as the smaller girl blushed. Her expression softened in to something more sincere as she added. "She likes you you know. I can tell."  
"Been reading her mind?" Emily shot back, trying to take the attention away from herself. To her surprise Effy shook her head again.  
"I can't get inside Naomi's head. Think it has something to do with what she can do. It's like she locks me out. It's nice…quiet. Sometimes it can all get too much, you know?"

"That's why you did what you did last year? To make it all stop?" Emily wished she was able to hold the other girl as she nodded her head. Her eyes were sunk in to the back of her head and framed by dark circles. She looked run down and ready to give up. Emily had seen her looking like that before, and it was not something she wanted to witness again. "You know if you…do anything stupid, it will fucking kill Katie, right?" Effy didn't react to the question. For a few moments she sat silently at the bus stop, mulling over Emily's words. Finally she looked up at her with a crooked little smirk on her lips.  
"We both know Katie's the only reason I'm still here." As the bus pulled up at the stop Effy added, "I hope they find you Emily. I really do." After that she resounded herself to silence.

Emily left her on the bus and found her way back to Naomi. No matter where about in the city she was Emily could track her down. She was still mad with her, though the anger had simmered down to mild irritation rather than fury. She found her and Katie with Ida and Gina in the Campbell's kitchen. They fell silent as they noticed her standing in the corner. "Hey." Naomi cautiously tested a smile on her lips, as though she expected Emily to start screaming at her at the slightest acknowledgement.  
"Hey." Emily replied with her own hesitant smile. "No luck then?" She presumed they hadn't found her body since they were all looking up at her with glum expressions. Except for Katie who was staring down at the table. Her expression was just as dour as the ones the others were wearing.

"Ida and mum are going to give it a shot." Naomi dropped her gaze as she added. "I think I'm going to have a lie down." Her movements were jerky and unsteady as she rose to her feet. Her knuckles were white from gripping the table to keep herself upright. Her porcelain skin was even paler than usual and she looked just about ready to collapse. Katie failed to notice this as her head shot up in response to her words.

"Are you fucking kidding? Emily is still missing and you want a nap?"  
"I have a headache." Naomi grumbled in her defence. "I just need twenty minutes." She didn't give the older twin a chance to argue as she walked out of the kitchen. It took all the strength she had to keep herself up right until she was out of sight. She slumped against the stairs as she reached them and held her head in her hands as the world around her began to swim in and out of focus.

"Naomi! Do you want me to get your mum?" Emily fussed around her, unable to physically help her."  
"No." The blonde mumbled as she dragged herself up the stairs. Her migraines were getting worse and her legs felt like they had turned to lead weights. The second she reached her bed she collapsed in to it and curled herself up in to a ball. Emily lay down beside her and watched her fall asleep; taking in the way that even with her eyes closed the pain she was suffering was still visible on her face. The only respite she had was in her dreams.

Once she was deep enough under to dream she found herself lying on the familiar picnic blanket in the clearing. It was dark and the stars hung low in the sky overhead. Emily was nestled in to her side and the warmth from her body was a soothing comfort. Naomi's arms were already around her and she shifted to place a kiss to her temple. "I'm worried about you." Emily mumbled as she returned the kiss, this time to Naomi's lips.  
"Don't be. I'm fine. I'm with you." Naomi tried to dismiss her concern and distracted her by kissing her again. It worked.

Emily straddled her waist without breaking the kiss. Her hands tangled through Naomi's hair as she deepened the kiss. She let out a low moan of pleasure as Naomi's hands travelled up her thighs and under her shirt. They felt cool against the hot flesh of her stomach. The night air was warm and inviting as Naomi's fingers deftly worked at the buttons of the other girl's shirt before slipping it off her shoulders and letting it fall to the ground. Her eyes hungrily drank in the sight before her as Emily smiled shyly down at her. She tried to cover herself, but Naomi grabbed her wrists and shook her head. Her eyes were glued to Emily's as she spoke. "Don't. You're beautiful Ems."  
"You're dreaming Naomi." The smaller girl laughed, the vibrations rippling through her body and in to Naomi's.

"I am." The blonde chuckled as she sat up to press her lips to Emily's neck, drawing out another satisfying moan as she nipped at the sensitive flesh. "If this is _my_ dream then _you _should be wearing less clothes Fitch."  
"Maybe this is _my _dream?" Emily purred back, her lips finding Naomi's once again. She kissed her long and hard until it didn't matter whose dream it was anymore. When their lips finally parted they were both flustered and short of breath, but neither pulled away very far. Naomi rested her forehead against Emily's and let out a heavy sigh. Her eyes closed with the effort of the action.  
"Either way I don't want to wake up."

Naomi felt Emily's weight shift from her and the other girl was suddenly silent. The blonde slowly opened her eyes, fearing she had said something wrong. She blinked twice, her eyes adjusting to the dim light. She had apparently been worrying about the wrong thing. Emily was gone. She couldn't feel her in her dreams. Emily had left her alone at their lake.

Naomi jolted awake from the shock of Emily's sudden departure. It was dark outside and her room was bathed in the moonlight streaming through the open curtains. She'd slept for a lot longer than twenty minutes and her limbs felt stiff and heavy from sleeping curled up for so long. Her eyes scanned the room, only resting once they landed on the figure of Emily at the bottom of her bed. Her eyes were wide and her expression was troubled. Naomi couldn't help but scowl. Her headache had grown ten times worse and seemed to be resting behind her eyes. She really hadn't wanted to wake up. She'd been happy by the lake with Emily. "What happened?"  
"I woke up." Emily's husky voice was shaky and quiet.

Naomi couldn't help the eye roll that followed. "You're not asleep, you shouldn't be able to leave till I wake up-"  
"No." The smaller girl's voice grew firmer. "I mean I woke up Naomi. I opened my eyes. I was alive."


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: So I started another story, because apparently I don't have enough to do at the moment. This is still my priority, though I'm planning to finish off Stockholm in the next couple of weeks as it's long overdue. Once again thanks to everyone who's reading and to those encouraging me to write.

"What do you mean you woke up?" All traces of sleep were gone as Naomi bolted upright in bed and stared at Emily like she had just spoken in tongues. She was certain that there was some sort of mix up between the words going in her ear and how her brain was processing them. Emily couldn't possibly have just woken up and been back inside her body.  
"I opened my eyes and I wasn't here. I was someplace else. I couldn't move. My throat was too dry to speak, but my eyes were open. I was alive Naomi. Just for a second my eyes were open and I was alive-"  
"Where were you? Did you recognise anything? Hear anything?" The blonde frantically questioned the other girl, excitement overtaking her apprehension.

"I...I…it was dark." Emily sighed in to her hands as she struggled to remember anything that could help them. It was like she had woken up from a dream and the memory of it was slowly fading. She struggled to cling on to what little she could remember. "I couldn't focus, everything was just a blur."  
"Did you hear anything? Smell anything? Come on Ems,_ anything?_"  
"I'm sorry." Emily shook her head, exasperated. "It happened so fast. My eyes closed again and I was back here, waiting for you to wake up."  
"But you were alive." A rare smile spread across Naomi's lips. "Don't you see? Your body's fighting this Emily, it's trying to get your soul back inside! We still have a chance!" Naomi's enthusiasm was infectious and Emily found her own lips twisting up in to a smile.  
"We have a chance." She repeated, letting the words sink in. _They _had a chance. She and Naomi could have a future together. A real one.

Emily could take the blonde to the lake for real. Summer would be arriving soon and they could lie by the water's edge and waste away countless afternoons. Emily would be able to truly feel the other girl's kiss once again; she would taste the blonde on her lips and savour every caress of her soft skin. "Come on. Let's go tell mum." It was still early enough for her mum to be up so the blonde raced downstairs. Emily beat her to the living room in the blink of an eye.

They were surprised to find Katie and Effy curled up on one of the sofas. "Nice nap?" Katie was clearly still in a huff with the blonde as her eyes narrowed at her. Ida at least was thankfully gone. Naomi pointedly ignored her and instead addressed her mother, who sprawled on the other sofa with a glass of wine in her hand.  
"Mum, Emily just woke up in her body."  
"What?" Katie shot off the sofa and was on Naomi in an instant. She grabbed the other girl's arm to spin her around to face her. Naomi jerked back and tried to hold her temper in check. Things had not ended well the last time Katie had grabbed her. "So she's ok?"  
"She's still here…but yeah, she's ok. At least we know she's still alive and her body's strong enough to draw her soul back to it." Naomi's grin faltered as she caught sight of her mother nervously sipping at her wine. "Right mum?"

"Hmm? Well yes, maybe…but it could…it could be her body's way of telling her it's nearly time…" The older blonde didn't need to finish her sentence for them to know where she was going with it. Except for Katie of course who seemed to need it to be spelt out for her.  
"Time for what?"  
"To let go." Naomi slumped down on to the sofa and swiped Gina's glass from her. She drained it dry in two mouthfuls. Her good mood had been eviscerated in a matter of seconds. She had never contemplated that Emily's body would be reaching out for her soul in an attempt to recover it before her body gave up. "Fuck. I didn't even think…I just-"  
"Want her back." Katie finished for her as she threw herself down next to Effy and cuddled in to her. Effy wrapped a protective arm around the smaller girl and held her close. She placed a kiss to the top of her head. "So what now?"

Neither of the Campbells had an answer for her. Gina and Ida hadn't had any luck searching for Emily either and they had run out of ideas. While Ida was one of the best mediums in Bristol, if not the South West, she had no direct experience of souls leaving their bodies so long before death. Even when people reported out of body experiences it was their spirits that were able to encounter the world around them, not their souls. No one knew much about the subject, but she was contacting everyone she thought might be able to help them.  
"I could go back down the canal and-"  
"No offence babes, but you look like shit." Katie's scrutinizing gaze travelled over her body. Even after her nap she still felt exhausted and it was showing on her face. "Go back to bed. You're no good to Ems like this."

The blonde didn't need to be told to go back to bed twice. She offered the oldest twin a tired smile. "Thanks Katie. We'll think of something in the morning, ok?" She said goodnight to the others and dragged herself back upstairs to her room. Emily followed her up and settled down next to her on the bed again. She lay facing the blonde with her hands resting under her head and a wistful expression on her delicate features.  
"If I wake up in my body again I'll try and stay awake. Call for help…"  
"I'll find you." Naomi muttered in to her pillow as her eyes began to drift shut. "I'll find you."

As she drifted unconscious, eagerly waiting to be sitting by a sunny lake with the redhead beside her, she failed to notice her phone flashing on the bedside table. She'd had three missed calls and a voicemail. All from the same number.

It was late the next morning before she eventually checked her mobile. Her eyes were still half closed as she groped blindly for her phone to check the time. The sun was high in the sky and streaming through her open curtains, blinding her as she eventually cracked her eyes open. She frowned at the alerts on the screen, telling her how many calls she had missed. Dialling in to her voicemail she flopped back down and sank her head in to the pillows. She shot back up again as she listened to the message.

"Hi…this is Chris May. I had a message on my phone from you, something about my mother? I…uh…I'm on the mainland at the moment with work…anyway I'm getting the train back to Bristol tomorrow morning. I'll be at the station for about midday. I don't think you're crazy…please call me." A frantic glance at the time told her it was almost noon. She dived out of bed and began pulling on the first clothes that came to hand. Emily was nowhere in sight and she didn't have time to go looking for her. She caught the bus at the end of the street and got to the train station just after twelve. It was only as she stood in the lobby by the ticket machine that she realised she had no idea what Chris May looked like.

She pulled out her phone and dialled his number, hoping she could get through to him. Right then and there he was the only hope they had. The phone rang and rang until eventually someone picked up. The same masculine voice with its mangled Bristolian and Manx accent greeted her. Chris had obviously spent quite a lot of time on the Isle of Man to pick up the lilted accent. "Naomi? I'm at the station."  
"I'm by the ticket machines."  
"There are quite a few people." He chuckled. "What do you look like?" It was only as he asked that Naomi realised she had ran off to meet a strange man without telling anyone where she was going. If she wasn't careful then Detective Blunt could end up looking for her body. The detective would just love that. She'd definitely blame Naomi for Emily's disappearance if she went missing too.

She made a conscious decision to remain somewhere public with him, even with her added abilities a burly middle aged man could be a serious threat to her. "I'm blonde, five six-"  
"And a kid." She spun around and found herself face to face with the man on the other end of the phone. He wasn't what she had been expecting, just as she had not been what he was expecting, his brows were knitted together as though the realisation that she was so young had shaken his faith in her.  
"I'm eighteen." She snapped, unable to help herself. Her tone softened as she remembered it was a miracle the man had even turned up. "And you're a priest." Naomi had been shocked to see the dog collar around Chris May's neck. He was a tall man with broad shoulders and a strong jaw, some of his features were more slender, not unlike his mothers.

The middle-aged man replied with a patient smile as though he was used to that kind of reaction. "Yes. I'm sorry; I was just expecting someone older. I'm Father Christopher May, the parish priest at St. Mary's. There are only eight Catholic churches on the island, but we're a strong community…not that you invited me here for a lecture. You spoke on the phone about my mother. That her spirit isn't yet at peace?"  
"Um…yeah. I'm sorry, but aren't priests not supposed to believe in this kind of thing? I mean I didn't give you any proof to believe me, and you just got on a train and came straight here?" Naomi couldn't help her pessimistic attitude. She was used to people ridiculing her kind, not accepting her gifts at face value.

The older man lost his smile as his eyes seemed to gloss over. "I always blamed myself for what happened to my mother and sister. To be honest with you Naomi I think I've been waiting for your call my whole life. I believe in the afterlife, and I believe in Heaven and Hell. I also believe my mother and Rebecca are not at peace. If what you say is true then it's my duty as a priest to ensure their souls are laid to rest. Just don't tell my bishop that." His smile returned, though it was a little smaller and didn't quite reach his eyes. Naomi decided he had kind eyes and she felt herself relaxing a little around him. Her fears of him being some sort of psychopath had quickly faded.

"Could you get in trouble for this?" Naomi knew little of the Catholic Church, but her experiences with religion in general had never been good ones.  
"_And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.__"_ Naomi knew he was quoting the bible at her, but he told her the passage anyway. "Leviticus 20:6. The Church doesn't really condone people like you Miss Campbell, but that doesn't mean you don't exist." They began walking as they spoke, with Chris leading them over to a coffee shop tucked in to the corner of the train station.  
"Aren't you supposed to follow the bible? You'd be a pretty bad priest otherwise." The blonde teased, though she was mindful not to push too hard. The last thing she wanted to do was offend the man who could potentially help her save Emily. He chuckled at her, not offended in the slightest.  
"My faith is in the Lord. The bible may be the word of the lord, but it was written by the hand of man. And sadly man is very fallible. Sometimes it's best to take the good book with a pinch of salt."

Chris was an easy man to talk to, especially for a priest. Naomi could easily imagine him taking confession, listening patiently and responding appropriately to his congregation. Once they had ordered two coffees they lapsed in to an easy silence until a young woman brought over their drinks. She was a slim girl with bright red hair; she instantly reminded Naomi of why she was there. Once they were alone she told him all about how she had met his family and what had happened to Emily. "So I need to show your mother you're ok so she'll go to Rebecca and they can move on."

"After Rebecca tells you what she saw." The older man stroked at the beard on his chin. He was a handsome man, with only a few flecks of grey streaking through his hair and showing his age. He had carried the burden of his loved one's deaths for almost forty years. He was clearly ready to believe anything she told him. She still felt the need to prove herself to him though and stared down at her steaming mug of coffee. She focused on the liquid and it began to spin and rise up in a mini-tornado inside the porcelain mug, just as she had made the water in the canal push her up a week earlier.

"What are we waiting for?" Chris drained his own cup and got to his feet. His expression eager and hopeful. Any doubts that Naomi's age had caused him had been eradicated in an instant.  
"You should have waited for me!" Naomi barely flinched as Emily's husky voice snapped in her ear. The little redhead appeared beside her, her face full of thunder.

"I didn't have time Emily." She sighed, not wanting to get in to an argument with the other girl. Chris eyed her cautiously; despite having seen for himself what she could do there was still a moment when a flicker of apprehension washed over his face.  
"He could have been a nutter Naoms!" The blonde pointedly ignored her and got to her feet to lead Chris to the canal. "I'm telling your mum!"  
"Good. Meet us as the canal." Naomi wasn't a fool. No matter how nice someone seemed she wasn't just going to go wandering off to a secluded spot with them without letting anyone know.

Emily was gone for less than a minute before she reappeared beside the blonde. Her presence had become something of a reassuring comfort for Naomi; and the other girl badly needed some reassurance as the taxi they had taken neared the canal. If Rebecca hadn't actually seen anything they would be back to square one. Chris didn't need to be shown to the road where his mother had been knocked over and killed. He walked up the road like he had never been away from Bristol and stopped at the exact spot where Joanna May's spirit lingered.

Her hollow unseeing eyes stared straight past her son and in to Naomi. "Please, I need to find my son-"  
"He's here Joanna. This is Chris. Your son." Naomi had only witnessed her mother helping a spirit to move on three or four times, but she knew to be patient with them. Ghosts stuck on a single purpose did not tend to mark the passing of time. Joanna May was still looking for a toddler. She barely glanced at the man standing before her and shook her head. "I'm looking for my little boy, please-"  
"Joanna." Naomi's voice took on a firmer tone. "This is your son. Tell her Chris, tell her something only you would know."  
"But…I can't see her." Chris frowned.  
"She can hear you." The blonde urged him to do as she had asked. Joanna needed to see the man was actually her little boy.

"Ok…I…um…you used to call me your little angel. You were told you wouldn't be able to have another child after Rebecca, but you had me. You said I was your gift from God…and I got you killed." There were tears welling up in the man's eyes as he spoke, bearing his soul in front of the others. "I'm sorry mum. I'm so sorry."  
"Chris?" Joanna cocked her head to the side as she finally turned her attention to the stranger. She took in his strong chin, his slender nose and his dark curly hair that matched her own. "My little angel." She smiled at him, though he couldn't see it. Naomi began describing everything she said and did, like an audio guide for the visually impaired.  
"She says it wasn't your fault. You let go of your balloon and ran after it. You were just a kid. She wants you to stop blaming yourself."

Once Joanna realised her son was safe her attention quickly turned to her other child. "Rebecca-"  
"She's safe." Naomi reassured her. "She's waiting for you." Naomi led Chris, his mother's spirit and Emily's soul down the road to the water's edge where the little girl sat perched on the low wall of the canal. This time she didn't acknowledge Naomi. Her eyes locked straight on to her mother and she jumped down from the wall and ran straight in to her mother's arms.  
"I waited mum, just like you said. I waited for you! Can we go home now?" Naomi allowed the pair a brief reunion. She could see both of their forms fading, becoming less distinct with each passing second. They didn't have long.

"Rebecca? I need to know what you saw last Friday night. The first night you met me. My friend here, she was hurt. I need to know if you saw who hurt her?" Rebecca stood by her mother and cast a thoughtful glance from the blonde to Emily. When she answered she spoke directly to Emily.  
"You were crying. Then you were on the floor. You weren't crying anymore." Spirits, especially those of children, tended to have very short attention spans for the world around them. She had clearly ignored Emily until after she had been attacked.  
"Did you see who hurt her? Was it a man? Or a woman?" The young ghost shook her head as she slunk back in to her mother's protective grip. "Please Rebecca, this is important. Are you sure you didn't see anything else?"  
"A car. It drove off and she was gone. I think it was black…can we go home now mum?"  
"Chris, they're going. If you have anything to say…" Naomi trailed off and allowed him to say his final goodbyes to his family.

Once they had finally crossed over he seemed to feel the difference in the air and it was like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He had finally taken the first step towards forgiving himself for what had happened to his family. He pulled Naomi in for an impromptu hug. "Thank you. Thank you so much." Naomi pulled back and offered him a sheepish smile.  
"You're welcome." She didn't know what else to say. She had never helped anyone pass over herself. It felt good, knowing she had brought closure to Chris and peace to Rebecca and Joanna. There was warmth in the pit of her stomach and she had a new understanding as to why her mother spent so much time helping trapped spirits. "I'm sorry we couldn't help your friend. I hope you find her."  
"Thank you."

Chris left them at the canal and Naomi was willing to bet he would be going for a stiff drink of something stronger than communion wine. She slumped on to the wall that she had first fallen from and sighed in to her hands. "I'm sorry Ems. I thought she would have seen something to help…"  
"She saw a black car." Naomi snorted at that. It was hardly the breakthrough clue she had been waiting for. "It's a start. And you still helped that family. Wherever they are now, Joanne and Rebecca have each other. You did a really good thing today."  
"I know." Naomi replied in a small choked voice. "I just want this to be over. I want you safe. I want to wake up beside you and be able to wrap my arms around you, or kiss you good morning. I just want _you__,_ Ems."


	19. Chapter 19

"We're running out of time." Naomi grumbled as she slumped on to the sofa beside Katie. The oldest twin had already been waiting for her when she had arrived home and had been quizzing her non-stop. Emily hovered on the other side of her while Gina and Rosa occupied the other sofa. "There has to be something else we can try…anything!"  
"Emily could try and find her body-"  
"What the fuck do you think we've been trying to do for the last week?" Naomi snapped at Rosa impatiently. It had been a week since she had found Emily by her locker, confused and bewildered, and the blonde had dedicated her every waking moment to finding her.  
"No, not you. Emily. If she focuses hard enough she can find her body-"  
"And you didn't mention this before, why?" Naomi growled, though she was looking at her mother not Rosa.

"Because if Emily's soul finds it body, she might get trapped back inside. She won't be able to tell us where she is."  
"And if I die I'll cross over." Emily's words were met with an uncomfortable silence from the rest of the room. Naomi chewed nervously on her bottom lip before speaking again.  
"We need to try it then."  
"Naomi, no! What if I get trapped in my body? What if I don't come back-"  
"You'll move on. You'll be safe Ems."

"You don't know that! You don't know where souls go, you said so yourself!"  
"You go to heaven dear." Rosa interrupted. Her voice sure and strong. "Your soul is pure. You'll go with God and you'll be at peace."  
"Do you believe that?" Emily turned to Naomi, her big brown eyes staring straight through to the blonde's own soul. Naomi didn't believe in much, and her doubt shone through. She believed she could see and speak to the dead, guide them on to another place; but that didn't mean she believed in a heaven with fluffy white clouds and angels.  
"I don't know. I think when our souls pass on we just end. I think our energy lingers in the world, but our essence, what makes us who we are…I think that just stops."

"It's like falling asleep." Katie's quite voice startled them all. They had almost forgotten she was there. "That's what Effy said anyway." She shrugged, uncharacteristically trying to sink back in to the background. Emily knew from experience that her twin hated to talk about what had happened to Effy. She hated to dwell on the idea that she could have lost the other girl. The first cut to Effy's wrist hadn't been deep, but she had been blind drunk at the time and had lost enough blood to go in to shock. Katie had kept her alert and talking until the ambulance had arrived, but by the time they got to the hospital Effy had gone in to shock from losing so much blood. Her heart had stopped beating for three and a half minutes and for those few minutes she had been dead.

"You need to try this Emily. If your body dies then you're stuck here forever."  
"And if I'm inside my body when it dies I lose you. And Katie, and Effy..."  
"Emily." Gina adopted a rare tone, and for once actually sounded like a strict mother. "I think it's the only option now love."  
"I'm scared."  
"Of course you are; but this really is the only way." The little redhead nodded solemnly. With one last longing look at Naomi she finally let out a deep sigh.  
"What do I need to do?"

Rosa and Emily sat in the kitchen while the others remained in the living room. The elderly woman had instructed Emily to clear her mind of all distractions and to focus solely on her own body. She had been trying to do that for almost an hour when Rosa finally let out a sigh and shook her head. "Emily, just let go."  
"I'm trying!" She snapped back impatiently. She was bored and frustrated, and as much as she tried to clear her mind she couldn't stop thinking about Naomi. She was anxious about leaving her. The blonde already blamed herself for everything that had happened, the last thing Emily wanted was for the other girl to shoulder yet more blame if anything went wrong.  
"Emily dear, she'll be alright. Tough as old boots that girl is." Rosa flashed a sincere gap toothed smile. "Now, let's get you sorted. Close your eyes and clear your mind, focus on your body. Focus on where you need to go."

Rosa's voice began to fade as the world around Emily slipped away. She felt herself leaving the Campbell's kitchen and didn't fight it. Her soul travelled across the city in a heartbeat and Emily didn't need to open her eyes to know she was close to her body.

When she did finally open her eyes she was confronted by an unfamiliar room. The walls were plain beige and the carpet was the expensive plush type that would have felt soft and full beneath her feet had she actually been standing in her body. There was a heavy oak desk sitting in front of a bay window and perched on the side of it was someone all too familiar. Emily couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her body was definitely close; she could feel the steady stream of her life force spilling out of it. Which meant the person perched on the desk was somehow involved in her disappearance.

"Emily!" She could feel her body calling out to her, but at the same time she could hear Naomi shouting for her. The other girl sounded desperate and the lure of the blonde was too strong for her to ignore. She found herself back in the kitchen, once again perched on the table in front of Rosa and Naomi. The other girl's face lit up. "You came back! Did you find yourself? Emily? What's wrong?" Naomi's glee quickly gave way to concern as she registered the anguish on the red head's face.  
"I was close." She mumbled, still unable to believe what she had just seen. "I could feel it."  
"Where were you? Could you see anything? Did you-"  
"There was someone there." Emily interrupted Naomi's questioning just as Katie and Gina walked in to the kitchen. In that moment Emily was glad her twin could neither see nor hear her.  
"Who? Was it Sophia? Did that bitch-"  
"Effy."

The room fell silent. "What? What did she say?" Katie demanded, the only one in the room who couldn't hear her twin.  
"You're sure?" Naomi ignored Katie's whining and spoke instead directly to Emily. "Maybe it's a mistake, maybe-"  
"Maybe what?" Emily demanded, taking out her anger and frustration on Naomi. "What reason could she possibly have for being wherever _my _body is?"  
"Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on?" Katie's temper tantrum blew her twin's out of the water as she exploded in the middle of the kitchen. It was left to Naomi to explain everything to her. She just hoped Katie had heard of the age old phrase 'don't shoot the messenger'.

"Emily didn't find her body, but she was close…and there was someone there."  
"The fucker who took her?" Katie growled out, her hackles already raised.  
"Maybe…we don't know for sure-"  
"Who was it then? I'll kill the fuckers-"  
"Effy." The kitchen fell in to an uneasy silence again. Naomi consciously took a step back as she waited for Katie to start screaming at her. "There has to be a good reason. It's not like she could have been involved. Effy would never hurt Ems, and she was with you Friday night-"  
"She followed Ems." Katie slumped against the table. Instead of exploding, as Naomi had expected, she seemed to deflate. "She said she was sick of me hiding behind Emily."  
"Her car is dark; it would look black at night." There were tears forming in Emily's eyes as she looked between the blonde and her twin. "She hasn't been well for a long time…what if she-"  
"This is fucking crazy!" Naomi shook her head, not wanting to hear whatever Emily had to say about the other girl. "This is Effy we're talking about! She loves Emily! She wouldn't hurt her. Just because her gifts are driving her crazy doesn't mean-"

"What gifts?" Katie snapped, jumping on Naomi's words like a bloodhound to a raw steak. "What the fuck are you talking about?" Naomi had already survived revealing one bombshell to Katie Finch; she didn't feel like risking it with a second one. Neither Rosa nor Gina knew about Effy's perceptive talents either.  
"Effy can read minds. It started last year; it's why she tried to…" Naomi trailed off Katie didn't wait for her to finish.  
"Oh. That. I'm not fucking stupid Naomi; I know what she can do! Do you think she'd keep something like that from me?" She pulled out her mobile and dialled Effy's number. It rang four times before the other girl picked up. Katie forced her voice to sound neutral and calm, despite the turmoil she felt inside.

"Hey babes, where are you? We're all at Naomi's…oh, ok. See you soon…yeah, me too. Bye." She pocketed her phone and faced the others. "She said she was at home. She lied to me."  
"She's been seeing her therapist a lot. She doesn't want to worry you." Naomi tried to reassure the other girl, but Katie was hearing none of it.  
"She lied to me. She never fucking lies to me!" Naomi found herself comforting the oldest twin once again as she sobbed in to her hands. "What if she really is part of this? What if she hurt Emily?"

**Sorry it's taken so long to update. I'm juggling three stories and working almost sixty hours a week so don't have time to write for any of them at the moment. Hopefully the next few chapters will be a lot longer and a bit more action packed as everything starts to kick off. Once again thanks to everyone who's still reading and a big thank you to everyone's who's reviewed! **


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: After re-reading the last chapter I realised I referred to Ida the medium as Rosa, I was working off some old notes for that chapter and mixed the names up, sorry for any confusion.** **It's taken a while for me to update as this chapter is pretty important and I wanted to get it right.**

"Jesus Christ, who died?" Effy joked as she walked in to the Campbell's living room, closely followed by Gina who had answered the door. She took in the sombre expressions of the women gathered in the room and frowned. "Fuck. Who died?"  
"Where've you been Eff?" Naomi demanded; her tone anything but friendly.

"At my house. Seriously what's going on?"  
"Emily went looking for her body. And she found you." Effy stared at the glaring blonde without any expression.  
"You caught me; she's in my pocket…" Effy trailed off as she caught wind of Katie's thoughts. Her head snapped to face her. "You think I hurt Emily. You, of all people?"  
"I…" Katie faltered, her big brown eyes unable to meet Effy's piercing blue ones. "You lied to me. I asked where you were and you fucking lied to me!"  
"I lied. So naturally I must have attacked Emily and stashed her body somewhere? Fucks sake Katie, you're supposed to believe in me!"  
"And you're supposed to trust me! Where were you?"  
"I went to see my therapist ok?"  
"I rang her, she hasn't seen you in weeks. So where the fuck have you been going every time you said you were with her?"  
"That's none of your business-"

"Can you hold off on the fucking domestics for a minute?" Naomi shouted, stopping the girls mid-argument. "Emily's still missing and her body is wherever Effy was today. So if you really didn't have anything to do with her attack then tell us where the fuck you were so we can go help her!" Once again all eyes were on Effy as they waited expectantly for her to answer. She looked from Emily to Katie and then finally back at Naomi. As the blonde looked at her properly she realised her eyes were dull and glazed over, like she wasn't fully with it.  
"I was with my doctor." She finally answered, her voice small and unsure as she tried to answer Naomi's question. "My real doctor. John-"

With the utterance of that one single name the room erupted once again, with the twins shouting unison at Effy.  
"What the fuck? You know you're not supposed to see that creep!"  
"Fucks sake Eff! What were you thinking?"  
"Whoa! Hold on! Who the fuck is John?" Naomi tried to rein them all in again but Effy and Katie were too locked on to hear her. Emily at least had the decency to explain.  
"John Foster. He used to be Effy's psychiatrist, before she tried to…you know…but he was shit. He just made her worse. She stopped talking to me and Katie, stopped coming to college. He fucked her head up. After the accident Foster got reported, we thought he might have been trying to groom her or something but Effy wouldn't-"  
"John would never hurt me. He cares about me. I'm special!" Effy stopped arguing with her girlfriend to defend her doctor. "He's helping me. He said he can make the voices go away-"

"Effy dear." Gina stepped in, her eyes glued to the younger girl's as she took in the distant gaze in her eyes and her erratic behaviour. "No one doubts that. We just want to help. We're your friends-"  
"No." Effy shook her head violently. "You're not my friends! You're trying to trick me! He said you were all against me, and he's right! I have to go. I have to tell John-" She spun on her heels and raced for the door, but Gina was too quick for her and without warning the rug under her feet went flying across the floor, sending Effy flying forward. She hit her head as she fell and the lay on the floor, stunned and dazed from the impact.  
"Effy!" Katie screamed as she lurched forward to help her. Naomi and Emily stared at Gina like was a madwoman as she scrambled over to where Effy was lying and quickly used her scarf to bind the younger girl's hands.  
"Gee mum, that'll stop her from thinking we're out to get her." Naomi remarked dryly as Gina finished doubling the knots of the makeshift bindings.

"This Foster has clearly influenced her!" Gina defended her actions as she and Katie helped a still dazed Effy to her feet and sat her down on the sofa. Katie fussed over her lover, glaring at Gina as she inspected the angry red bump on the other girl's head.  
"You didn't have to hurt her!"  
"I'm sorry Katie, but if this Foster is involved and Effy tells him we're on to him…" She didn't need to finish what she was saying as her troubled gaze landed on Emily.  
"This doesn't make any sense! Yeah Foster's a creep, but why would he hurt Ems?"  
"He thinks I'm Effy's girlfriend." Emily answered her sister's question as the pieces began to fall in to place for her. "He's got a thing for Eff and he thinks I'm what's standing in his way."

"And he's clearly one of us if he can do this to Effy." Naomi added, her concern growing. "Bending someone's will, putting them under your spell like that…it's not easy. It takes a _lot _of energy."  
"Like the energy he could get from feeding on Emily's soul. An almost infinite energy source, so long as the person remains unconscious." Ida finished for her. "And if their soul is still inside their body that is."  
"So she would have to be somewhere close, somewhere he could feed off her." Naomi added, her excitement was growing as she realised they finally had a solid lead. "And Effy too. Her abilities are getting stronger. He must have Emily somewhere near his office for Effy to feed off her too!"  
"He has an office at the mental hospital." Katie supplied helpfully and she seemed a little bit calmer once she realised Effy was going to be ok. "There's plenty of rooms and beds, what if he has Ems in one? He needs her alive to use her energy right? So he'd have to hook her up to machines and shit to make sure she stays alive and doesn't wake up."

"Katie Fitch, you are a fucking genius!" Naomi broke out in a wide grin as she wrapped an arm around the smaller girl and placed a kiss on her forehead, laughing as Katie shoved her away. "What are we waiting for-"  
"Effy doesn't look good Naoms. We need to help her." Emily stood by her twin and her lover and flashed those big sad eyes at the blonde. She was right. Effy didn't look good. She had started to come around properly and was struggling at her bindings. Her skin was flushed in a sheen of sweat and she looked like a girl possessed.  
"Ems, Effy can wait. You can't. Your soul is your life force; Foster's feeding off an empty shell, just draining what's left over in your body. Once that runs out, you die. We don't have time-"

"Please Naomi." Emily insisted her voice small yet firm. "We have to help her."  
"Emily love, we don't practise hypnotic suggestion. Even if there was time, we wouldn't be able to break the control Foster has over Effy."  
"I might know someone who could." Naomi admitted with a heavy sigh. "But we have to be quick. If it doesn't work, we concentrate on finding your body, _then _helping Effy. Deal?"  
"Deal." Emily agreed as Gina frowned at her daughter.  
"Who do you know who practises hypnotic suggestion?"

"I need your help." Naomi was loathe to admit it, but she was desperate and the girl in front of her was the only person she could think of. She and her mother didn't associate with the type of people who abused other people's freewill.  
"Oh really-"  
"Don't dick around Sophia. I really need your help ok? Effy's been hypnotised. She's back at my house and freaking out. I need you to break the connection she has to the person who's doing it-"  
"I'm not that strong. I only just learnt how to plant a suggestion, not to remove one!"  
"Well who taught you? Huh? Who's been showing you how to do this stuff Sophia because you were never this strong-"

"My doctor showed me ok? He's one of us. And he's really powerful. Like crazy strong. I started seeing him when you stopped talking to me. He hasn't just shown me how to do stuff, he's making me stronger-"  
"Foster." Naomi growled. "He's using the life force of living people to teach you your fucking party tricks!"  
"What?" Sophia's eyes widened and she shook her head in disbelief. "No. That can't be right. He's helping me-"  
"He attacked Emily, he's messing up Effy's powers without her say-so and to top it off he's fucking manipulating her mind!"  
"He was my alibi." Sophia slunk back against her locker and held her head in her hands. "I went for a walk after the club. No one saw me. Foster said he'd say he was with me. I didn't know what he'd done! I swear I didn't-"  
"Then prove it. Fucking help me!"

"Her?" Emily sneered as Naomi returned to the house with Sophia trailing behind her. "She's supposed to help us?"  
"Foster's been using her too." Naomi sighed, it had taken a lot for her to go to Sophia and ask for help and once again she was doing it all for Emily's benefit. She didn't feel the need to justify her actions. "Just trust me ok? She's here to help."

Sophia knelt down beside Effy, who was still tied up and glaring at the other girl. She had stopped struggling not long after Naomi had left and had just sat on the sofa staring in to space. "Effy. I need you to look at me." Effy's head snapped away in defiance. Sophia firmly gripped her chin and forced her to look at her. "I need you to listen to me. Listen to my voice. You're safe here. I promise. Just relax. John Foster has put something in your mind and I need to take it out-"  
"John's my friend. He makes the voices go away!"  
"No." Sophia kept her voice firm as she stared Effy down. "He doesn't. His powers, they block yours out. That's why you don't hear the voices around him. He makes them worse Effy; he's doing this to you." This time Effy was silent as she stared intently in to Sophia's rich chocolate coloured eyes. Her expression was once again blank as she soaked up Sophia's words. "You have to fight him Effy. You have to get him out of your head and keep him out. Fight him."

Effy blinked and suddenly her expression grew less vacant. Within a few moments she looked more like her usual self. Ignoring the girl kneeling between her legs she turned to face Katie, her eyes wide with horror. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to lie to you…I wanted to tell you the truth but every time I tried the wrong words just came out and-" Katie silenced her with a searing kiss that quickly grew uncomfortable for the others to watch. Naomi cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Could you two maybe save that for later? We still need to find Ems. So I suggest we go have a word with Foster-"  
"What do you suggest, we just walk in to his office?" Effy shook her head as Katie helped untie her hands. "He's fucking dangerous Naomi. He gets inside your head and just fucks with it. We need to play this right."  
"So what do you suggest?" Naomi snapped back, her irritation building with each passing second that they all just sat there doing nothing. A devious smile spread across Effy's lips.  
"I think it's time you got some therapy."


	21. Chapter 21

"You have to stay here Ems. If he sees you-"  
"I could stay with Katie and Gina. I can help! Please!" Emily cut the other girl off, her desperation plain on her face. She needed to be close to Naomi, to feel like she was keeping watch over the blonde. Foster had mercilessly beaten Emily's skull in and stashed her in a hospital to feed off her her life force; all because he thought she was with Effy. The man was clearly unstable and Emily didn't like the thought of Naomi or Katie being any where near him.

"You need to stay with Effy and Sophia. We don't know if Foster's link is broken for good. If Effy starts flipping out again she's going to need someone familiar with her. Please Emily. Trust me."  
"Stay safe, yeah?" Emily chewed her lower lip nervously as she finally relented. She wished she could reach out and hold the other girl, to show her how much she meant to her, or just to stop her from walking out, but there was nothing she could do but give in. "I..." She faltered, sure of what she wanted to say, but unsure of how Naomi would react to it.

"Naomi! Move your arse! Your appointment's at four!" Katie hollered up the stairs, distracting the blonde.  
"Coming!" She yelled back. She turned to Emily and forced herself to sound confident. "We'll be back soon. We're going to find you and everything's going to be ok. I promise."  
"Don't." Emily shook her head in dismay. "Don't make promises you can't keep." Naomi tried not to laugh at that. That was all she had been doing for a week. "I promised you I'd find you, didn't I?" Katie shouted for her again and Naomi had to cut her goodbye short. "Just stay here Ems. We'll be back soon. I'm not leaving that place without you."

It was easy to put on a front with Emily, but as soon as they were out of the house and in to Effy's car the blonde felt her resolve fading. Her mother could sense her discomfort and took her hand in her own. "You don't have to do this Naomi. We could call the police-"  
"And say what?" She sighed pessimistically. "We think Foster's abducted Emily to feed her life force to Effy to make her fully psychic? We don't even know if she's at the hospital mum. I'll distract Foster while you and Katie look for Ems. It's the best plan we've got."

"It's a fucking stupid plan." Katie grumbled from the front as she drove towards the mental health hospital that Foster worked out of. "You really care about her don't you?" The question threw Naomi for a moment. For once Katie's words seemed genuinely sincere rather than scathing.  
"Yeah." She answered honestly. "Yeah, I do. I promised I'd find her...I have to." They lapsed in to silence for the rest of the drive. When they arrived at the hospital they followed the plan and split up, with Naomi going off to find Foster and Katie and Gina going off to try and search for Emily. Before the blonde could make her escape though Katie pulled her in for a hug and held her tightly as she whispered in her ear.  
"Bring her back to me, yeah?"  
"Of course." Naomi squeezed her back before pulling away from the embrace. As she forced her feet to march up the elevators she felt like she was walking her last mile on death row.

Foster's office was on the second floor, at the end of the building overlooking the grounds. His receptionist had let her in to wait for him, insisting he wouldn't be long. The room looked just as Emily had described it, with a huge oak desk sat in front of the bay window and black leather chairs in front of it. Naomi nervously paced around, looking at the certificates on the walls. "Don't worry. I am qualified." A middle aged man stood in the doorway, offering her a friendly smile. He was clean shaven with short cropped hair and was dressed sharply in an expensive looking suit. He looked deceptively normal for a man who was clearly as unhinged as his patients. He closed the door behind him and made his way over to where Naomi stood examining his qualifications. "John Foster." He held out his hand. Naomi forced herself to accept it as she resisted the urge to slap the smile off his face.  
"Naomi Campbell. I appreciate you agreeing to see me Dr Foster. I didn't know where else to turn and Effy said-"  
"Please, call me John. And it's my pleasure. Any friend of Effy's...please, sit." He indicated one of the leather chairs and took the other for himself. "So, what is it I can help you with?"

Naomi had planned what she was going to say. She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye as she gave him her well rehearsed answer. She only had to keep him busy long enough for Katie and Gina to find out if anyone matching Emily's description was in the hospital. "I feel like a freak. Like I'm not normal. And I need to admit it to someone before I crack. Effy said you'd understand..." Foster didn't interrupt her, he sat in his chair, patiently listening to her rambling on. He could feel the energy around her as clearly as Naomi could pick up on his power, but he made no mention of it. "I'm gay." If he was surprised by her admission he did not show it. She forced a large grin on to her face as she feigned relief. "Wow, I said it! I'm gay! I fuck girls! You're really good at this." Foster shifted in his seat, an amused smile gracing his lips.

"You know it's strange. Effy's never mentioned you before...Sophia however never stops talking about you."

"And does Effy talk about a lot of her friends? Or just Emily?" Naomi's voice took on a false calm as she called him out. She was rumbled and she knew it. She had to keep her head if she was going to be any use to Emily. She had never expected to carry her façade on for long, and being in Foster's presence had made it ten times harder to control her attitude. The man had hurt Emily. _Her _Emily. He was probably feeding on her life force as he sat there smirking at her.  
"She's been very concerned, yes. I don't know why, Emily's just another human. There are billions of those about aren't there?" Foster narrowed his eyes as he assessed the blonde's reaction to his words. He stood up and began pacing in front of his desk. Naomi's gaze flitted between the pacing therapist and the door. "After all, they're not like us. We're special. We're better than them Naomi, aren't we? I mean it's an evolutionary fact! That's what I'm trying to show Effy, and Sophia too. She's a patient of mine, but then I suppose you already know that?" A slight nod of her head confirmed his suspicions and he continued his rant. "You see Naomi, our kind should stick together. Our numbers are fewer than they've ever been, and our people are weak! Effy and Sophia, they've barely been able to scratch the surface of what they're capable of because of their weakened blood line! But us, we're first among equals Naomi, we're stronger because of our parentage. It's rare to find someone so gifted these days, your parents must be very strong-"  
"What the fuck are you on? My Dad was human, just like Sophia's." Naomi finally snapped, confused by his ramblings. "Cut the superiority bullshit Foster, you know why I'm here-"  
"You got Sophia to break my bond with Effy." He spoke plainly and calmly as he stopped pacing. "If you turned her against me I suppose she knows she was my alibi, not the other way around...and of course you know why I have Effy's little play mate, and you're probably here to try and find her. Am I right?"

"If you know all that then why did you agree to meet with me?" Naomi's fists were clenched as she gripped the arm rests of the chair she sat in, her grip on the leather was pretty much the only thing stopping her from going for Foster. He chuckled as he read her mood and picked up on her hatred of him.  
"Sophia told me all about you. What you can do, how strong you are, and how much you hate what you are...I've wanted to meet you for some time. Though admittedly under better circumstances. I suppose this kills two birds with one stone."  
"Why?" She wasn't asking why he wanted to meet her. She could care less about his delusions of evolutionary superiority or how she was so gifted. Emily was all that mattered to her. "Why Emily? You're killing her! She's the nicest person I know. She wouldn't hurt a fly-"  
"She took Effy away from me. Last year, I had her right where I needed her and that little bitch turned her against me! Effy is mine and I'm helping her to accept what she is! Just like I can help you Naomi." In a shot he was standing in front of her, leaning down in to her face and holding her gaze.

Every instinct in her body told her to flee, but from the moment Foster had caught her gaze she had felt immobilised, as though she had been superglued to the chair. Her limbs felt heavy, whereas her head felt light. Foster was trying to put her under his suggestion. She could feel his influence probing at the corners of her mind, trying to force himself on to her. She struggled to fight back, but for all her gifts she was still younger and weaker and she simply couldn't keep him out of her head.

"Good." He crooned as she stopped fighting him and slumped back in to the chair. "Now, tell me, who else knows what's going on?"  
"Effy, Katie, mum, Ida, Sophia..." Naomi's lips answered him under duress. "Katie and mum are looking for her now."  
"And where's Effy?"  
"She's at my house."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?"

"This is fucking ridiculous!" Katie huffed as yet another nurse ignored her attempts to catch their attention at the reception desk. The receptionist was nowhere in sight. "Where the fuck is my sister?" Gina cringed as the teenager shouted at nobody in particular at the top of her voice. It did the trick though as several people stopped and stared at her, probably assessing whether she was a patient or not. One of them frowned as she walked up to the reception desk and looked Katie up and down. She was an elderly nurse with an immaculate uniform and a no nonsense tone of voice.  
"What on earth is going on? When did you wake up-"  
"Emily!" The oldest twin burst out, causing the elderly nurse to jump back. Katie hastily apologised to her. "Sorry. I'm looking for my sister Emily, Emily Fitch. Please, she's missing and-"  
"We don't have an Emily, but you do look like one of mine. For a minute there I'd thought she'd woken up, stupid really." The grey haired woman chuckled to herself. "Coma patients don't just get up and wander around-"  
"Coma?" Katie's eyes widened at the woman's words. "Where is she? Where's Emily?"

The woman's expression hardened as Katie screamed at her. "Settle down now, I've told you it's not your sister. We don't have an Emily Fitch-"  
"She's my fucking twin, now where is she?"  
"Please." Gina added. She placed a hand on Katie's shoulder, trying to influence her mood to calm her down before the nurse called for security. It worked, as Katie fell silent the nurse really looked at her. Something seemed to click in the woman's mind, as though she were really seeing Katie for the first time. Gina was willing to bet her life savings that Foster had played a part in confusing her.  
"Oh my."

The room the nurse led them too was a private one, away from the main wards. The curtains were open and the late afternoon sun was casting an orange glow over the stark white walls and the machines crowded around the bed in the centre of the room. In the bed lay the tiny broken body of Emily Fitch. Her fiery red locks were splayed out across the pillow, highlighting the pale flesh of her sullen face. Her eyes were closed and framed by heavy black circles. There were drips and wires attached to her arms, and a clip on her finger that kept a constant measure of her pulse. The slow beep beep beeps from the machines were the only noise that broke the deathly silence in the room. Emily looked a stone's throw away from death.

"She was brought in a week ago. She'd suffered a severe head injury after collapsing with an overdose, the doctor treating her believes she had a reflex anoxic seizure, it would have cut the oxygen supply to her brain causing her to slip in in to a coma-"  
"How did she get here? The fucking police are looking for her! Who brought her in?"  
"I..." The woman faltered. Her face scrunched up in concentration as she tried to think of the answers to Katie's questions. "I don't know. She was just here. Her file was all filled in. I don't know how she was found. It was a suspected overdose that's why she was brought here...not that she's likely to wake up again...oh, I'm sorry dear, I didn't mean to..."

Katie brushed her off as the nurse tried to comfort her. Through gritted teeth she growled out, "Call the police. Get them here, now!" She stood by Emily's bedside and took her younger twin's hand. She heard Gina on her mobile as the nurse started demanding to know what was going on. The noises around her faded as she held Emily's hand and stared down at her sister's still face. They had been so identical as children that even their parents had sometimes struggled to tell them apart. They had taken great delight in constantly trading places just to confuse people. Right there and then Katie would have given anything to trade with Emily. It should have been her all along. Foster had taken Emily to get to Effy, when really Katie was the one who should have been lying in that hospital bed. Katie was the one who should have been clinging on for her life.

If she'd have been stronger, if she could have just stood up and told the world that she was in love with a girl, with Effy Stonem, then her twin would be safe. Emily would have told Naomi she fancied her ages ago and they would have gotten together. They would have shared their first kiss and probably a whole lot more and Emily would have been happy.

Instead she was lying anonymously in a hospital bed, her life slowly slipping away from her as her useless twin watched, unable to do anything for her. Katie had ruined Emily's life in more ways than she could count and as she stood stroking her sister's hair and sobbing in to her hand she swore that she'd make it right any way she could.

"Katie?" The older twin jumped as she heard something in her ear. It was like a sharp whisper, too high for her ears to really make out, but she had definitely heard it. Gina had quite clearly heard it though as her attention snapped to the other side of the bed.  
"Emily?" For all Katie could not see her twin's soul she could feel her presence in the room. She had spent much of her life with her sister by her side and some dormant part of her brain could sense she was with her. It only served to make Emily's body feel that much more like an empty shell. The lights were off and nobody was home. "I'm sorry Ems. I'm a stupid selfish cow and I'm so sorry. This is all my fault; Everything's my fault!" The nurse was right. There was no way Emily was going to wake up and it was all Katie's fault.

**A/N: **As always a big thank you to everyone who's reading and to those taking the time to review! I'm glad most people were surprised by Foster being behind it, but hopefully it didn't seem out of place, I tried to tie Effy in to it from the start so it wouldn't seem like something that had just been tacked on at the end. Anyway it might be a while until my next update. I'm in hospital at the end of the week getting an injection in to the muscle of my eye, not sure what my vision's going to be like for concentrating on writing but I'll update as soon as I can. If I can get another chapter up before Thursday I will, but can't make any promises between my eyes and living at work!


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: **Sorry it's been like two months since I updated this. I've been living at work, side tracked by a pretty girl, getting my eyes sorted out and working on some other stories. I should be able to get back to updating a lot quicker again now though. Getting close to the end but still a few chapters to go! Once again thanks for reading and for the awesome reviews :)

"They should have been back by now." Emily restlessly paced the living room, anxious to hear from Naomi.  
"She's a big girl Ems, she'll be ok." Effy tried to calm her down, but looking at the state Foster had left her in Emily was less than reassured. The other girl looked frail and tired and there were dark circles framing her bloodshot eyes. "You know I'm right, your girlfriend always is." She teased, coaxing a small smile from the youngest twin. "I'm sorry about all this Emily. Foster, you and Naomi… You'd be happy if it wasn't for me. Maybe Katie should have just-"  
"No." Emily cut her off, knowing where she was going. "Katie loves you Effy. None of this is your fault. Foster is a freak and he'll get what's coming to him. Effy? Are you listening to me?"

The other girl didn't seem to be paying any attention to her as she stared out of the living room window. Her expression darkened. "Something's wrong." Emily followed her line of sight and saw Naomi getting out of an unfamiliar car. Foster was following her up the garden path, his hand on the small of her back. She looked far too calm.

"Sophia!" Emily called to warn the other girl just as the front door opened. The three of them stood in the hall, waiting to find out what was going on as Foster stepped walked through the front door. He looked at Emily with a curious expression, his mind trying to calculate what she was as he knew the girl could not be a ghost. A small smile crept on to his features as he came to the same conclusion that Ida had.

"Naomi what's-" Emily started but abruptly stopped as Naomi walked straight up to Sophia, wrapped her arms around her neck and kissed her. Sophia, momentarily stunned, did nothing to fight her off and greedily kissed back. "Naomi!" Emily shouted, raising her voice to try and get the blonde's attention. If the blonde could actually hear her then she showed no signs of it as she carried on kissing the girl who had practically stalked her. "What's wrong with…Foster's…you need to…"  
"Emily?" Effy screamed as the girl blinked in and out of sight once, then twice and finally vanished completely on the third time.

"Forget her Effy. She doesn't matter anymore." Foster stepped up to try and take Effy's hand, his intense gaze boring in to her and trying to worm it's way in to her mind. She fought him with everything she had, but she was still tired and weak. Her mind was frail and Foster was far too powerful to keep him out for good. She could already feel the walls around her mind beginning to crumble as his fingers locked around her wrist.

"Get off of her!" Sophia was panting for breath as she finally pulled herself together and pushed Naomi away from her. The blonde just stood there, staring at her with a vacant expression, ignoring the drama happening around her.

Foster chuckled as he pulled Effy in closer to him and turned his attention to Sophia. He didn't bother wasting any energy on hypnotising her. He didn't need to bother with any of that. He knew exactly what buttons to press when it came to his patient. "Have you forgotten who's side you're on Sophia? It's us and them remember? This is what you always wanted. Naomi's yours. You should be thanking me."  
"Thanking you? She's a fucking zombie!" Sophia snapped, once again pushing an insistent Naomi away. "That's not what I wanted. None of this is! You don't care about me; you only ever used me to get to Effy and Naomi!"

"No. No Sophia, you're like a daughter to me. I couldn't have done all of this without you." Sophia felt her insides twisting as he spoke to her in a soft, almost affectionate tone. He had done a lot for her; she had to admit that much. He'd been one of the few people in her life to take an in interest in her, to see her potential. Just like Naomi once had. He'd shown her how to master her abilities and taught her a lot more than she had ever expected; and above all else he'd listened to her. He'd seemed to genuinely care which was more than either of her parents had done.

"Don't listen to him Sophia!" Effy could see the gears turning in the other girl's mind as she considered Foster's words. "He doesn't care about you! He used you! Please Sophia- Arrgh!" Effy fell silent as Foster gripped her wrist painfully tight and yanked her hair back. He looked like a man possessed as he leered down at her.  
"No one asked for your opinion sweetheart. Now, why don't you be a good girl and stay quiet?" His will was pressing down on her resolve, trying to force itself on to her; and he was winning. Effy's defences were slowly slipping with each passing second.

"Put Naomi back to normal and leave now and I won't call the police." Sophia tried to put some conviction in to her voice as she stood up to the older man. "Katie and Gina will have found Emily by now. It's over John. Leave while you still have the chance."

Foster stared at her in silence, weighing up the weight of her words. Then he laughed. He laughed so hard that there were tears in his eyes. "Oh Sophia, I though you got it. The police? The human laws?" They don't apply to us. We're above them!_ We _are the superior species. We need to stick together. I have a lot of friends Sophia. It would be no trouble at all for me to slip away today and disappear for good. For all of us. Don't you see? We can start a new life, the four of us. I'll have Effy and you'll have your Naomi. We'll be a family…isn't that what you've always wanted? To belong somewhere? To be with your own kind?"

The problem with trusting all of your deepest and darkest fears to a clinical psychologist was that they could use them against you. Foster knew exactly what buttons to press to get Sophia's attention. Effy could see the turmoil in her eyes. He'd made her a very tempting offer. She wanted to open her mouth, to shout at Sophia to remember what the man was capable of, but she couldn't make her lips work. Foster had ordered her in to silence and her body had obeyed. She tried to look to Naomi, tried to read her mind to see if like Effy she was only vaguely under the influence, to see if somewhere inside of her her mind was still reachable. Normally Effy couldn't get any sort of reading from Naomi, her mind was always so guarded. She felt crushing disappointment as she finally picked something up. Overwhelming lust. Foster had ordered her to be mad about Sophia and that was the only thing on her mind. Naomi was lost somewhere deep under the madness, too far away to reach.

"I…I can't." Sophia stumbled. She was talking to Foster but her eyes were glued to Naomi and the longing in them was clear for everyone to see. "It's not right. It's not her, not really."  
"Not right now, no." Foster admitted, his voice even and steady as though he were pitching a business proposal. "Naomi is one of us, but this place and these people have got her hating herself, hating what she is. Given time, with my help, we can make her understand that we are the superior race. She's wasting her time with all these humans and she'll see that Sophia. And she'll see you."

Sophia bit at her lip as she mulled over her words. Effy wanted to cry out in anguish as she saw her slowly losing the fight with herself. Sophia was there last chance. If she didn't fight him then Effy and Naomi would be doomed to spend the rest of their lives as mindless zombies, forced to worship people they did not love. If they disappeared then Effy would never see Katie again. She would never again get the chance to kiss her, to hold her. She would never again hear sweet nothings whispered in to her ear with the hint of an adorable lisp.

"No!" It was only one word, but it rang out loud and clear in the silent hallway. Effy had found her voice and was fighting back. Her love for Katie was like a shining light filling her mind and holding back the poisonous darkness that Foster was trying to impose on her.  
"Quiet!" Foster growled, clearly losing his patience as well as his grip on the teenagers. "Sophia, you know this is the right thing to do."

"You're right." Sophia sighed and Effy felt her insides tearing themselves apart as the other girl finally gave up fighting. Her eyes closed as tears began welling up in them. It was over. Foster had won. "I do want all of those things. I want Naomi. I want a family and I want to feel like I belong…but I want to be able to look myself in the mirror too." She pulled out her mobile, her fingers dialling 999 before Foster could even comprehend he had lost his hold over her.

His features contorted with rage as he sent the phone flying out of Sophia's hand. It smashed against the front door and fell to pieces on the floor. "I'm disappointed Sophia. But it doesn't make a difference. I can still leave here with Effy right now and the police will never find me. Emily Fitch will die and Naomi will hate _you-"_ His rant was interrupted as police sirens filled the air. His eyes widened in panic, his perfect plan was crumbling around him. He glared at Sophia's broken mobile; he was certain he had stopped the call to the police from connecting.

"Oh, that was me. Sorry." Foster's head snapped around just in time to see Naomi swing a golf club at his head. For once in her life Naomi Campbell was thankful for all the junk her mother kept laying around the house. The four iron hit the side of Foster's head with a satisfying crunch that sent him stumbling back. He let go of Effy's wrist as he struggled to keep his balance and fell against the wall. A trail of blood trickled from the open wound on his forehead and he slumped to the floor, dazed and confused. The police sirens were screeching outside and had finally reached the house. Naomi stepped back to open the door just as a group of officers reached it, led by DS Blunt. She dropped the golf club on the floor and slumped on to the stairs. "He's all yours."

Foster put up very little resistance as one of the uniformed officers pulled him to his feet and Blunt cuffed his hands behind his back. She read him his rights before the other officer took him away to one of the waiting police cars. With him out of the room Blunt turned her attention to the three teenage girls. Naomi in particular. "Do you want to tell me what's going on? I don't often get texts from teenage girls telling me they've been abducted by a psychologist. You're lucky I'd just had a phone call from uniform telling me they've found Emily in the hospital _you _were supposedly being abducted from."

Relief spread over Naomi like a wave of serenity. Her mother and Katie had done their part and found Emily. "I suggest you three come down to the station to make a statement about what's been going on-"  
"No. I need to see Emily!" Naomi shot to her feet. Emily disappearing had had nothing to do with Foster. If they'd found her body then maybe she was awake and her soul was back inside. "I need to speak to her." Blunt looked at her with the kind of expression she'd had countless years to perfect. It was the kind of sympathetic look that told Naomi she didn't want to hear whatever was going to come out of the detective's mouth.

"Emily's not awake. She's been taken to the Bristol General, the doctors think she's been put in to a medically induced coma. They're flushing the drugs out of her system now; but the trauma to her head was pretty severe. They won't know the damage until she wakes up."

Blunt arranged for the other two girls to go back to the station in a patrol car and she would take Naomi to Bristol General Hospital where Emily was being treated. Blunt left the girls for a few minutes while she organised for Scene of Crime Officers to attend Naomi's house and stationed a couple of uniforms at the door. "What happened? I thought Foster had you?" Effy had been able to read Naomi's mind, she had been certain it was because Naomi had been under Foster's influence.

"I've spent my whole life keeping people out. I guess not even Foster was strong enough to break the habit of a life time. "The blonde shrugged with a tired smile. "I let him think he had me and I text Blunt in the car on the way over." She turned her attention to Sophia rather sheepishly. "I had to pretend…I uh…thanks. You could have turned on us but you didn't. That took a lot of guts." Naomi pressed a kiss to her cheek as she hugged the other girl, hoping she finally understood that Naomi didn't want her back. Sophia seemed to get the message as she squeezed her back before pulling away and going to wait in Blunt's car. Effy however was not so easy to get rid of.

"I read your mind. You were crazy for her. If Foster didn't do that then-"  
"I couldn't risk you giving me away, so I let you in. I was thinking about Emily the whole time. I'm crazy for Emily." She managed a weak smile as she finally admitted it out loud. Emily Fitch had crawled under her skin and in to her dreams and there was nothing she could do about it.

"You should tell her that."  
"Yeah." Naomi nodded in agreement, her smile faltering. "Let's hope I get the chance."

When Naomi arrived at the hospital Gina was waiting for her at the front door. She hugged her only daughter as tightly as she could, aware of how close she had come to losing her. Naomi indulged in the embrace for a few moments before pulling away and looking her square in the eye. "When Emily's ok, when all this is over, we need to talk about Dad. He wasn't normal like you said was he?" Gina didn't try to defend herself or object to the accusation. She simply nodded and kissed her forehead before telling her to concentrate on Emily first. They would talk about her father later.

The second Naomi stepped over the threshold of the hospital she felt a wave of death and despair wash over her. Hospitals were full of restless spirits and the pure energy from so many in one place was a little overwhelming. She kept her head down and tried not to give it away that she could see any of them as she made her way to Emily. The last thing she needed was for dozens of spirits accosting her for help. The dead were very needy and Naomi simply didn't have time for them, she had to get to Emily.

She found Emily in one of the side rooms of the ward her mother had directed her to. Katie sat beside her bed in a battered wooden chair, her brow n knitted in concern as she kept a bedside vigil over her twin. She had every right to look worried. Emily's small frame looked particularly frail lost under the stark white hospital bed that was tucked up to her chin. She looked deathly pale and there was a tube down her throat apparently helping her to breath. Blunt had filled her in on the details on the way over. Foster had kept Emily in some sort of barbiturate induced coma which was why she wouldn't wake up. Blunt hadn't been sure why he'd gone to the trouble of keeping Emily alive after attacking her. Naomi couldn't exactly tell her it was to feed off her life force so she'd kept quiet. She just hoped Effy and Sophia would have the sense to leave out the parts about them all being psychics in their statements.

Ironically Foster had actually helped Emily by inducing a medical coma; it had helped reduce the swelling from the blunt force trauma to the head. The doctors were optimistic that she would recover, but had warned Blunt that it was still touch and go. There could be brain damage or long term side effects that wouldn't be apparent until Emily was awake.

"Hey." Naomi cautiously shuffled in to the room, unsure whether Katie would want her there or not. She got her answer when the smaller girl got to her feet and buried her face in her shoulder. She sobbed as she wrapped her arms around Naomi, needing some sort of comfort and reassurance that her twin was going to be ok. She wiped at her eyes as she pulled away and glanced back at her unconscious twin.

"Mum and Dad are on their way in. You won't have long." With that she walked outside, pulling the door shut behind her to give Naomi some privacy.

The blonde took Katie's seat by Emily bed. Her hand sought out Emily's and a small smile found its way on to her face as she held it. She had been craving being able to actually physically touch Emily to offer her some comfort. If Emily's soul was back inside her body then maybe she'd be able to tell. Naomi bit her lip and cleared her throat, hoping that somehow Emily would know she was there for her and that she would be able to hear her. "Emily I…I'm in-"  
"I'm not in there." Naomi jumped and let go of the other girl's hand as she shot to her feet and spun around. Emily stood leaning against the door, her features set in a frown. "I didn't go back inside. It was Katie, I could feel her…she needed me and I couldn't stop myself from going to her." Katie's grief had been like a flashing beacon to her twin's soul and it had called to Emily clear across the city.

Naomi sat back down and took Emily's hand again as she gently brushed a lock of hair out of her face. She looked away and over at Emily's soul as she spoke, her words laced with absolute conviction. "We'll find a way to get you back Ems. I promise."


	23. Chapter 23

"Are you ok?" Emily frowned as Naomi cradled her head in her hands. It was the early hours of the morning and she was curled up in the chair beside Emily's hospital bed. She had left when Emily's parents had shown up, but had been able to slip back in to her room after they were gone. The nurses who had come in to check on Emily every so often had said nothing about her being there so she had sat there for most of the night, keeping a bedside vigil on the other girl's empty body.  
"I'm fine." She sat up and rubbed at her eyes. "It's just…noisy." She could hear the wail and moan of every restless spirit in the hospital and it was really starting to grind on her. Emily's presence was making her migraine all the more pronounced and it was having an adverse effect on her gifts. She was struggling to stop anything not nailed down to the floor from moving around the room. She had been slowly losing control all week and as she sat holding Emily's hand she wasn't sure she had the strength to keep fighting.

"I can't believe how many ghosts there are in this place…what's wrong?" Naomi frowned at her comments. They weren't making her feel any better.  
"The Doctors are weaning the drugs out of your system; you shouldn't be seeing spirits…you should be waking up Ems, not pulling further away." She let out a heavy sigh as she let go of Emily's hand and buried her face in her own hands.

"I don't feel any different. I should, but I don't." Emily admitted as she perched on the end of the bed, trying to catch Naomi's attention. The blonde's eyes were firmly on Emily's unconscious form. "What if I wake up and my soul's not inside me?"  
"It can't happen." Naomi shook her head, still unable to look away from Emily's body, as though watching for the tiniest sign she was going to wake up. "You won't wake up without your soul. It's your essence Emily; it's what makes a person who they are."  
"You should go home. Get some sleep."  
"I'm fine." Naomi repeated, though her eyes were starting to close of their own accord.  
"Naomi, you're going to wear yourself out. You need to sleep."  
"I can't." The blonde finally admitted, lifting her gaze to meet Emily's. "I'm terrified that if I close my eyes I'll lose you again."  
"You won't. Foster's locked up. He's gone Naoms. Go home, get some sleep, please."

***

"What the fuck do you mean he's gone?" Naomi shouted in DCI Blunt's face as she stood on her doorstep, a younger detective standing sheepishly beside her.  
"I don't know why it happened, but for some reason the custody sergeant let him go last night-"  
"Last night! Emily's-"  
"I've got an officer guarding her room and another with Miss Stonem. He won't get near either of them Naomi. I know you're upset but I can promise you we're doing our best to find him. I think it would be best if we stationed an officer with you too."  
"No."

"Naomi!" Emily snapped at the blonde, unheard by Blunt and the other detective. "You need protection too! Foster will come after you!"  
"Naomi, I don't need to remind you how dangerous John Foster is. And I'd like to think you're smart enough not to do anything stupid-"  
"Yeah, well thanks for letting me know _Detective. _I'm sure you'll let me know you _re-catch _the dangerous freak that attacked my friends and kidnapped me. Have a nice day now." She slammed the front door shut in their faces, ignoring Emily's protests. She was more mad at herself than Blunt. She knew exactly what Foster had done, manipulating the guard on duty to let him go, and she should have expected it. The man was a psychic with delusions of grandeur and no respect for the law. He wasn't likely to sit in some jail and rot for the rest of his natural life.

"No. Naomi, no!" Emily snapped at her as she grabbed her coat and headed for the back door. "You can't go after him! It's not your job!"  
"Then whose job is it Ems?" Naomi stood her ground and stared the smaller girl down. "Blunt's? She has no fucking idea how dangerous Foster is. She can't stop him and she can't protect you. I can!"  
"How?" Emily's question stopped her in her tracks as she reached for the back door.  
"I don't know." She admitted with a heavy sigh, seeming to deflate with her admission. Her anger was the only thing she had left and she knew she was using it against the wrong person. "I don't know how I'm supposed to keep you safe from that psychopath Emily. Or Effy, or Katie-"  
"Katie." Emily's eyes widened as something dawned on her. "Does he know she's Effy's real girlfriend? Blunt didn't say someone was with her did she? What if-"

"I'm on it." Naomi pulled out her phone and dialled Katie's number while she wrestled with the house phone on the kitchen wall and called Effy at the same time. Neither of them picked up. "Fuck." She hung up the house phone and carried on trying to get through to Katie.  
"I'll go find her-"  
"No! Emily, wait!" The blonde stopped her just before Emily could disappear. "Foster knows what you are. Getting anywhere near him will just supercharge him and that's the last thing we want-"  
"She's my twin Naomi! I can't just-"  
"If he drains your soul you'll die Emily. I'll find Katie. She's probably in the hospital with her phone off. Just, please, I need you to stay here. I need you to stay safe."  
"So I'm meant to just sit here while you go after Foster? I can't do that Naomi. Not if he's going after Katie. Stay safe, ok?"  
"Wait, Emily!" Naomi shouted after her as she disappeared from sight, off in search of her twin. "Fuck!" She just prayed Katie wasn't with Foster.

The energy from Emily's soul would be like an all you could eat buffet for Foster. If he drained Emily's energy he'd easily be able to manipulate any one he wanted; Naomi included. The trouble was she had no clue how to track Foster down, or what she would do if she even could find him. It wasn't like she could just hand him over to Blunt, but there wasn't exactly some sort of authority of psychics who could stop him from hurting anyone else. When the time came it would be up to Naomi to deal with him, whatever way she could.

She wasn't likely to find Foster or Emily in her house so she pulled her jacket on and slipped out of the back door. She knew Blunt would have someone watching her regardless of Naomi refusing a babysitter. The last thing she needed was a cop following her. It was pouring of rain as she made her way through the back streets of her estate, avoiding the main roads so that she was sure no one could be following her from a car. It took her longer to reach where she was going as she doubled back on herself and deliberately took wrong turns, but eventually she was standing outside the one place she knew she could go for help. "Who is it?" A gruff voice came from inside the flat as she wrapped on the door. She banged harder, not wanting to be left outside in the passage any longer.  
"It's me. Open up!"  
"Alright, alright!"

When the door opened she was greeted by the sight of James Cook in his underpants. He held a bowl of cornflakes in his hands and had his mouth full as he frowned at her. He still stepped aside to let her in. "Heard they found Red. Hope the fucker who did that to her rots."  
"He escaped last night."  
"The fuck?" Cook choked on his cereal. "We got to find the bastard-" He put the bowel down and started looking around the floor for clean clothes.  
"That's why I'm here. I need your help…but first I need to tell you something. And it's going to sound insane, but I need you to believe me Cook. Emily needs you to."

"So you're like some sort of fucking witch or something?" Cook had listened quietly as Naomi had told him all about what was going on with Emily and Foster. For the most part he had listened without interruption, but once she was finished he had a million and one questions.  
"A psychic." Naomi corrected. She floated an empty beer bottle up in front of his face to emphasise her point. "We control natural energy, manipulate it for our own use. Foster uses it to brainwash people. It's how he made the police let him go. That's why I need to stop him Cook. The police can't do it."  
"So what do you need from me?" Cook wasn't stupid. He knew the only reason Naomi was sharing her secret with him was because she needed something from him.  
"I need your gun."

"Do you remember the night I found Effy? The night she tried to kill herself? There was so much blood and I just couldn't make it stop, no matter how hard I tried, it just kept spilling out…but I held my hands around her wrists and it was something, you know? I was doing _something _to help. I can't even see what's wrong with you Emily…why aren't you waking up?" Emily sat beside her twin's hospital bed, cradling her hand, unaware that Emily's soul was standing behind her, keeping its own vigil over Katie.

"Because I told her she can't." Katie jumped as Foster's voice broke the silence in the room. Behind him the policeman stationed at the door just stood there, like he couldn't see him at all. Foster calmly closed the door behind him as he stepped in to the room. His lip curled up at the sight of Emily and, unknown to the human eye, his skin began to glow as he tried to feed on her energy. She had no choice but to do as Naomi asked and leave Katie behind with the psychopath who had tried to kill her.

"You see Katie, the last thing I told Emily, as her eyes were rolling to the back of her head and her brains were leaking all over the backseat of my car, was that she can't wake up. Not until I say. Even when the drugs are out of her system, she won't wake up. Not without my say so."

"What do you want?" Katie growled at him, standing protectively in front of her twin. "Emily never did anything to you!"  
"No. She didn't. You did." Foster was alarmingly calm as he took a seat in one of the hard plastic chairs beside Emily's bed. "You see a year ago Effy was mine. She had an absent father, a whore for a mother and even a brother who never had time for her… Her mind was so easy to break. She was mine for the taking, and then she tried to kill herself and _I _got the blame. Me? The only person who knew what she was really going through, the only person she could truly depend on. She turned her back on me…You see I thought Emily was to blame. So I killed two birds with one stone, so to speak, I took Emily so that Effy would break and she'd be easy to take again…but she didn't. Because she had you. Katie Fitch, her little pillar of strength."  
"So what, you've come for me now have you?" Katie crossed her arms and held her head up, staring the older man down. Inside she was shaking, but she knew she had to hold it together; for her and Emily's sake.

He chuckled at her and shook his head, a smile playing on her lips. "Not quite. Though I admit it should be you lying there, not poor Emily. You see Katie, I have something you want and you have something I want. I'm here to offer a deal. Emily for Effy."  
"What?" Katie frowned at him, the lump in her throat growing as she realised what he was asking of her.  
"You heard me Katie. Choose; your sister or your lover. If you give me Effy I'll let Emily wake up. If you don't she'll never wake up again."  
"I…I can't. You can't make me do that!" Katie stuttered, her anxiety making her lisp more pronounced.  
"Oh I can. And I am." Foster got to his feet and straightened his suit jacket, brushing off the wrinkles. "You see you're the reason Effy is fighting me. You're the last wall in her mind. If you tell her that you don't love her, that you never did, she'll stop fighting me. You'll get Emily back and I'll disappear, neither of you will ever see me again-"  
"Or Effy." Katie stared down at her unconscious twin, weighing up her options. The only way to get her sister back was to lose her girlfriend; and Keeping Effy would mean losing Emily for good. Her eyes closed as she let out a deep sigh. "What do you want me to do?"

A wicked smirk spread over Foster's lips as Katie finally gave in. "Call Effy, tell her you're breaking up with her…tell her you don't love her-"  
"She won't believe me over the phone." Katie objected, her voice choking as she squeezed Emily's hand for the strength to do what needed to be done. "I'll have to do it in person. You want it done right, yeah?" She pulled out her mobile as Foster eyed her wearily. "I'll call her to make sure she's home. You can come with me, when it's done Effy's yours…but if you're the only one who can wake Emily up then you have to do it first-"  
"After." Foster corrected her, his tone leaving no room for argument. "When I have what I want."  
"Fine." Katie pressed a few buttons on her phone and pressed it to her ear.

"Katie? What the hell's going on?" Naomi's voice sounded frantic on the other end of the line, she had been listening to every word since Katie had first dialled her number when Foster had stepped in to the room. Pressing the buttons on her phone had all been for show. She kept her voice calm as she stared Foster in the eye and spoke in to the phone.  
"Hey babes, it's me. I need to talk to you, are you at home?"  
"I can be at Effy's in ten minutes…but I don't have a plan Katie. I can stop Foster, but if I do I won't be able to wake Emily up…I don't know what to do."  
"Me neither." Katie sighed in to the phone. "Look I'll be ten minutes. See you soon." She hung up, hoping Naomi would come up with something before they arrived at Effy's. She couldn't lose either of them.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: **A big thank you to everyone who's been reading and for all the reviews encouraging me to continue. This is pretty much the end, though I'm probably going to add a short epilogue to finish things off properly.

"I hope you've got a plan." Effy looked down expectantly at Naomi as she sat by the window, keeping watch for Katie and Foster. The blonde sat below the window, hidden from sight from anyone walking up the garden path. Emily sat quietly beside her, knowing she couldn't check in on Katie without tipping Foster off. She licked her lips as she swallowed the lump in her throat. The gun tucked in to the back of her trousers was digging painfully in to her back, a constant reminder of what she had to do. There was no other option. She couldn't just ring Blunt up and have him arrested. She would give him one chance to help Emily; otherwise she would do what needed to be done. "When this is all over, can you make it stop? The voices…" Effy trailed off, looking guilty for asking when Katie and Emily were still in danger. It was clear she needed something to take her mind off Katie though so Naomi nodded.  
"What we can do, it's like a muscle. If you stop using it all together then eventually you won't be able to. Once Emily's energy wears off you-" Naomi stopped as a searing pain shot through her forehead and settled behind her eyes as a dull ache. Her headaches had been growing steadily worse over the week and as she sat on the floor she struggled to focus on the room around her.  
"Naomi?" Emily shot her a worried look, though there was nothing she could physically do to help her.  
"They're here." Effy's head shot up again as a car pulled up outside.

"Ems…" Naomi started, but couldn't quite finish. She wasn't sure what to say to her. They both knew that if things didn't go right then there would be no way to save Emily's soul. If Naomi had to use the gun then Emily was as good as dead.  
"This isn't just about me anymore." Emily's big brown eyes were wide and pleading as she looked from Effy to Naomi. "Foster won't stop…do what you've got to do."

The pistol felt like a ton weight in her hand as Naomi slipped it out of her jeans and held it tightly. Cook had shown her what to do, and with a quick flick of the safety catch she was ready for the inevitable knock at the front door. Effy moved slowly from the window and went to answer it. She paused with her hand on the door. Naomi had warned her what Foster wanted Katie to do, and even though she knew whatever Katie was about to say to her was a lie she still didn't want to hear it. After the third knock she finally had to open the door. "Hey." She stepped aside to let Katie in, but she hovered by the front door, with Foster standing right behind you.  
"We need to talk. We can't do this anymore…I…I…don't love you. I never have. That's why I couldn't tell anyone about us, because I was ashamed…you…you were just a fuck ok? So, so, you should just go with Foster." Katie's lisp had never been so prominent as she forced her words out, all the while her big brown eyes were pleading with Effy to forgive her.

Foster stood behind her with a cruel smirk on his lips as he watched Effy's face crumple. "Effy." He stepped forward to comfort her, but she took a step back away from him. She could feel his mind already trying to invade her own.  
She was aware of the deal he had offered, to wake Emily up if Katie gave Effy up to him. She had watched the turmoil in Katie's eyes as she had said all those horrible things, as she had been forced to choose between her twin and her lover. She couldn't ask Katie to choose her over Emily. She could never ask that of her, but if Naomi's half-cocked plan didn't work then Katie would really have to choose. So she made her own choice. "If I agree to go with you, no tricks, no mind control, just my free will…will you help Emily?" Foster looked startled by the offer, as though he couldn't comprehend what Effy was willing to do for the twins. For Katie. Suddenly his face was split by a smile.  
"Of course…that's all I ever wanted Effy. No tricks, no games, just you and I-"  
"And you'll help Emily?"  
"Of course…you have my word."  
"Effy!" Katie's eyes widened as she realised she was deviating from the plan and actually offering herself as a sacrificial lamb to save Emily.

"Fine. Come inside. I'll need to pack." She cut Katie off and stepped aside to let them both in. "Why don't you wait in the living room?" She reached out for Katie's hand but Foster got there first and clamped a firm hand around her arm.  
"How about Katie waits with me?" He wasn't completely blinded by his obsession with the younger girl; he still had his wits about him. "Naomi." His tight lipped smile faltered as he walked in to the living room and found the blonde waiting. The gun was tucked out of sight; she trusted whatever plan Effy was trying out. After all, it wasn't like she had much of a plan herself. Emily hovered beside her, fear and concern etched on her young features. Foster was paying particular attention to her, intrigued by the prospect of a soul outside the body.

"Naomi." Effy's voice was tight as she discreetly laced her fingers through Katie's. She squeezed her hand and miraculously Katie understood what she wanted. She slammed her stiletto heel down on to Foster's foot with enough force to make him let go of her wrist. Effy protectively pulled her behind her as Foster turned on them in a blind rage. She could feel his mind coming down on her, but Katie's fingers were still laced through her own and gave her an extra defence against him, grounding her to the world around her. Not for the first time in her life Katie Fitch was Effy's rock. "He has no intentions of helping Emily. He wants her to stay in a coma so he can feed on her soul. He wants to be powerful enough to control both of us… and he wants to hurt Katie." Unlike Naomi's mind, Foster's was an open book to Effy. Whenever he was trying to force his will on to her he left his own mind vulnerable and open to Effy's gifts. She had read his intentions plain and clear when he had sworn to help Emily. He had been lying through his teeth and his mind had been as black as tar as his hatred of Katie had consumed him. Seeing just what Effy was willing to do for her lover had stirred a jealous murderous rage within him. He planned to kill both of the twins.

"And just what do you think you can do to stop me?" He laughed at the teenagers, the manic sound echoing around the silent room. "Call the police?"  
"Not quite." There were tears in Naomi's eyes as she pulled the gun out of the back of her jeans. Her hands were shaking as they gripped the butt of the pistol, her finger on the trigger. She believed Effy when she said Foster wouldn't help. Deep down she had known all along what it would come to. Foster's laughter grew louder.  
"Are you going to shoot me Naomi? You might as well go put a bullet in little Emily's head, because you'll be killing her too. Is that what you want?" His twisted smile and piercing eyes were aimed straight at Naomi and she could feel his influence on her mind. He was trying to bore his way in to her head, fighting against the defences she'd had in place her whole life. He wanted her to turn the gun to the side of him, to aim at Katie and pull the trigger. Naomi could feel the trembling in her hands spreading up her arms as her defences began to slip. Foster was older and stronger than her, and he was starting to win in the battle of wills.

"Naomi." Emily's voice suddenly blocked everything out as she spoke from over her shoulder. It was strong and husky, and oddly calm. "It's ok…I'm ready." Naomi felt a surge of energy go along with her words as Emily gave her the strength to pull the trigger. The second Naomi's finger squeezed that trigger the room erupted in to chaos. Katie screamed in shock as Foster screamed out in agony. Naomi, less than two feet away from Foster, managed to fire off five rounds before the gun dropped from her hands. She dropped to her knees along with it and cradled her head as a searing pain shot through it. Indirectly feeding off Emily's energy for over a week had given her terrible migraines; but the energy Emily had forced upon her had left her in unbearable agony.

Her own screams added to the symphony of Katie's and Foster's; at the same time the distant wail of police sirens were growing closer. Sophia had kept to her side of the plan, placing an anonymous tip to Blunt about Foster being at Effy's. "Help me! Somebody help me!" Foster screamed in pain as he lay on the floor, clawing at his eyes. His hands were covered in red and Katie was hysterical at the sight of the blood.

Except it wasn't blood. Naomi had held the pistol in two hands deliberately, not because her hands had been shaking, but to hide the small Co2 canister screwed in to the bottom. The pistol was in fact a paintball marker and had fired five large calibre paintballs in Foster's face. At least three of them had hit him in the eyes, which was exactly what Naomi had been hoping for. The only way to stop Foster was to remove his power. The eyes were not just the window to the soul, but to the mind as well. If foster couldn't make eye contact with someone he could not influence their mind. Blinding him had left him powerless. Naomi could only pray that she had done enough damage to leave him permanently blind.

As her own eyes rolled to the back of her head and her body slumped forward, she came the startling realisation that amongst all the noise and the chaos in the room, and all the screaming voices, Emily's voice was not one of them. She tried to roll on to her back, to look for the other girl, but darkness was closing in all around her as the pain became all consuming, blocking out the rest of her senses. "Emily…"

"Naomi?...Naomi?" Emily felt a flood of relief washing through her as the blonde began to slowly open her eyes. She blinked a few times before her eyes adjusted to the soft lights shining down from the ceiling of her hospital room. The pain in her head had returned to a dull ache, though it seemed to have spread throughout her entire body. Her mother sat up right in the chair beside her bed, holding on to one of Naomi's hands as she waited for her daughter to come around properly.

"Hey sleepyhead." Emily hovered by Naomi's bedside with a weary smile. "Thought you'd never wake up. I'm supposed to be the one playing sleeping beauty…Naomi?" The blonde blinked, trying to clear her vision. Her eyes were glazed over and didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular as they scanned the ceiling. Her limbs felt heavy and weak as she struggled to crane her neck to face the visitor's chair beside her bed. Emily felt something break inside of her as she came to a realisation. "Naomi?" She was looking straight through Emily at her mother.  
"What happened?" She croaked as her throat was dry and raw.  
"The doctors think you had a seizure…Emily told me she forced her energy on to you, made you pull the trigger, I think it overloaded your system, forced your brain to have a seizure-"  
"Emily." Tears welled up in Naomi's eyes as her voice cracked. "Where is she? Is she with Katie?"

"She's right here Naomi..." Gina frowned. "She's never left your side since-"  
"It's quiet." Naomi interrupted her as her wide eyes scanned the room and her ears strained to pick up sounds other than shuffling nurses and beeping machines. She had never heard a hospital so quiet, so…dead. "I can't hear them mum…I can't…" Pain shot through her head again, silencing Naomi as her brain struggled to process everything that was going on. Panic washed over her as she realised she could neither see nor hear Emily. Her mind couldn't cope and once again the darkness washed over her as she passed out.

In another ward in the hospital Katie and Effy lay curled up on a cot in Emily's room. Katie had wanted to be close to Emily once they knew Naomi was stable, and one of the nurses had helpfully supplied her with a cot to sleep on. Effy had stayed with her as they kept a silent vigil over Emily's still form. "You would have gone with him, wouldn't you? If he'd been honest about saving Emily?" Katie's voice was a whisper as she turned to face Effy.  
"Of course." There was no hesitation in Effy's voice as she answered, her arms wrapped protectively around Katie's waist. "Emily's like a sister to me. I would do anything for her…for you."  
"What I said today, about being ashamed…I didn't mean it. I was scared, I didn't think I could be brave like Emily…but I can be. I love you, and I don't care who knows it." Effy smiled as Katie poured her heart out to her. She didn't need to be told that Katie Fitch loved her. She had never felt that Katie was ashamed of them. She had simply bided her time, waiting for Katie to be ready.  
"I love you too."

"Do you think Foster was right? That Ems won't wake up now?" Effy could hear the fear in Katie's voice even if she couldn't see it on her face. The room was in darkness except for the lights on the machines around Emily's frail body.  
"No." Effy forced as much conviction in to her voice as she could, trying to reassure herself as much as Katie. "I think if there's a way to bring her back then Naomi will find it. She won't give up on her."

When Naomi woke up again she was still lying in the same hospital bed, though it was light outside and her mother had gone from the chair beside her bed. She looked around the room, hoping to catch sight of Emily, but it was empty. She still couldn't see or hear any other spirits either. She had never been alone in a hospital before, the silence was unnerving. "Emily?" She had no idea whether the other girl was actually in the room with her or not, with her gifts gone she had no way of knowing for sure. "I don't know if you're here…maybe you're not, maybe I'm just talking to myself…It's funny, I've spent my whole life wishing I could be normal. A few weeks ago I would have given _anything_to be normal, to never see another ghost. And now I've got everything I ever wanted…except I've lost you. Without Foster we can't wake you up; without my abilities I can't see you...this is so fucked up Emily. I wish there was something I could do…anything…just to see you again…" She trailed off as she realised there was a way to at least talk face to face with Emily; even if there was even less chance of Emily hearing her.

It took some manoeuvring but she managed to slip out of bed and pull on her hoodie over the less than flattering hospital gown she was wearing. Her legs felt stiff and heavy as she slowly made her way out of the room and shuffled down the corridor. No one paid her any attention as she slipped off the ward and made her way to the other side of the hospital. The officer that had been posted at Emily's door was gone, which was a reassurance at least that Foster was no longer a danger to her; even though he'd done enough already.

Emily's room was empty except for the small redhead lying peacefully in the hospital bed. She looked like she was just sleeping, but Naomi knew better. The other girl would never wake up, not without Foster to tell her to. Because he had planted the suggestion in her mind while she had been slipping unconscious the only way to reverse his influence on her was for Foster to tell her to wake up again; but Effy had been right. Foster would never have helped her. Naomi took a seat on the chair beside Emily's bed and took her hand.

"I don't know what to do Ems…I don't know how I'm supposed to save you." She fell silent as though she was waiting for Emily to answer her. She sat there for over an hour, keeping a silent vigil over the other girl until she finally spoke up again. "I love you Emily. I wish I could have had the chance to tell you that…"  
"Naomi?"

The blonde jumped as Gina appeared at the door, concern etched on to her face. "I thought I'd find you here love. How are you feeling?"  
"Like shit." Naomi sighed as she pressed her lips to the back of Emily's hand. "Is Emily with you? Is she here? I still can't see her…" Gina's eyes scanned the room before she shook her head.  
"I haven't seen her since this morning. Maybe she's with Katie?"  
"Maybe." Naomi agreed with a nod. "So, these seizures…will my gifts come back? Am I going to be stuck like this for ever?"  
"I don't know." Gina admitted as she stood over Emily's bed. "Ida's been doing some research. She hasn't come across anything like this before. People have lost their abilities by not using them, but nothing like this. It took years before your dad lost his…" Gina trailed off. Naomi's father was still a sensitive subject between them.  
"Why did you lie to me? You said he was normal-"  
"He was, by the time you were born. He didn't want anything to do with our world-"  
"With us." Naomi huffed, her expression bitter.  
"No sweetie, he loved you. He did. He just couldn't deal with all this, with the dead. He didn't want you to have to either-"  
"Well now I don't." She wiped at her eyes with her sleeve, trying to conceal her tears. "I'm going to stay here for a bit."  
"Ok love." Gina left her to it and closed the door to Emily's room behind her. She let out a heavy sigh as she stared at the spot in front of her. "Care to tell me why I've just lied to my daughter?"

Emily stood in front of her, her arms crossed over her chest and a distraught look on her face. "Because the first time I want Naomi to tell me she loves me is to my face. Not to an empty shell. I'm not giving up Gina. I can't."  
"We won't. I promise love, we won't."

"John Foster pleaded guilty to attempted murder this morning." DCI Blunt didn't bother with pleasantries as Naomi opened her front door to her. It had been almost three weeks since Foster had been recaptured and Blunt had managed to build a pretty solid case against him. "As for his alleged assault, the CPS has decided it's not in the public interest to bring charges against you. We're happy you acted in self-defence…pretty handy that though, having a paintball gun in the living room."  
"Effy's a big paintball fan." Naomi stood with her arms folded across her chest and a scowl on her face. Foster unfortunately hadn't been left completely blinded. He had recovered some of his sight, but thankfully it was nowhere near enough for him to be able to focus on someone enough to influence them. John Foster was safely locked away in a high security prison.

"I've spoken to Emily's family; they say her condition is deteriorating…if she dies Foster will be charged with murder." As determined as Emily's soul was to live her body did not seem to share the same enthusiasm. Only a few days earlier she had been put on to life support. It was rare for Naomi to actually be at home, she had spent most of her nights at the hospital, taking it in shifts with Katie to watch over the youngest twin. The blonde nodded at Blunt, not sure what to say in response to that. Unlike Foster's sight Naomi's abilities had not returned in the slightest and she hadn't been able to see or speak directly to Emily. "I hope it doesn't come to that though."  
"Me either. Thank you. For coming to tell me."

She said her goodbyes to the detective before closing the door. She had less than an hour to get something to eat and a shower before she was due back at the hospital. Effy was sitting with Emily after she's finally convinced Katie to go home and get some sleep. The older twin had been reluctant to leave her sister since she had been put on life support. There was an uncomfortable atmosphere in the hospital; it was plain to see on the faces of the nurses and doctors who came to check on her that Emily did not have long left. Her body was fighting a losing battle and no amount of medicine in the world could help her.

"Don't cry dear." Naomi jumped as she turned and found Ida Rosa standing behind her. There were tears streaming down the younger girl's cheeks and she was in no mood to deal with the old woman hovering beside her. When had her mother even let her in? It had been days since Naomi had last seen Ida around the house; though they didn't get on she couldn't exactly fault her. She constantly had her nose buried in a book looking for a way to help Emily. "Things will get better."  
"Emily's dying." Naomi snapped back defiantly, her voice breaking. "How are things supposed to get better? Huh? Emily's dying and there's nothing I can do to help her-"  
"I can't, I can't…even as a child you would cry and spit your dummy out!" Ida's eyes narrowed at her as her razor sharp tongue lashed her. She had never been one to mince her words. "You are afraid, so you do not try…your father was the same! A useless man! You are better than that Naomi! You are your mother's daughter!"  
"What good does that do me?" Naomi screamed back at her, her anger and frustration flooding out of her. "I can't even see Emily anymore, never mind wake her up!"  
"Have you tried?" Ida's glare cut her in half and Naomi had to admit she hadn't.  
"It won't work."  
"Not if you don't try it won't."

"I-" Naomi scowled at her, how dare she suggest she wasn't doing enough to help Emily. She had devoted the last month of her life to trying to save the other girl. She was about to give her a piece of her mind when she was interrupted by her phone going off in her pocket. "Hold on. Hello?"  
"Naomi it's me." Gina's voice sounded strained on the other end of the line. "I'm at the hospital-"  
"Emily?" Naomi panicked, instantly fearing the worst.  
"No, no, that's not why I'm here. Ida's son phoned…she had a heart attack last night. She passed away an hour ago-"  
"Mum, I've got to go." The younger blonde hung up and stared at Ida in disbelief. It had been weeks since she had last seen a spirit and she had failed to notice the old woman was dead. "I'm so sorry-"  
"Don't be. It's my time, I'm an old woman and I've lived my life." For once Ida's smile was warm as she peered up at Naomi. "Emily's only a child; it's not her time yet. You need to help her."  
"I'm trying!" Naomi protested, tears welling up in her eyes. She was crying for Ida, the old woman she had never really gotten on with, and for Emily, and for herself.  
"Try harder!" Ida snapped, sounding more like her usual self. The edges of her form were starting to glow in a soft light as the elderly medium prepared to move on. "You can reach her Naomi. You have to try!"

Out of respect Naomi stayed with the old woman until she had passed over, but the second she was gone Naomi shot out of the house. Every spirit she passed on the way to the hospital was a welcome sight. As she sat on the bus, impatiently waiting in traffic, she focused on the rolled up bus ticket in the palm of her hand. Though it was only small and light she was ecstatic when she managed to make it move. It had been a long time since she had been so excited by the prospect of what she could do.

When she finally reached the hospital she found Effy sitting by Emily's bedside, reading to her from a tattered old book. It was one of Emily's favourites. The doctors, still stumped by why Emily wasn't waking up, had suggested they read to her, believing a familiar voice could bring her round. It was useless of course, but it gave Effy something to do. She reached the end of the page before marking the corner and putting it down. She gave Naomi a weary smile. "You're early."  
"Can't stay away." Naomi tried to keep her voice even and level as she pressed her lips to Emily's forehead, as she had done every day since they had found the other girl. She didn't tell Effy that her abilities were slowly returning, she didn't want to get her own hopes up never mind anyone else's. "How's Katie?"

Effy let out a heavy sigh before answering. "She's still not sleeping great, she's barely eating…I'm worried about her. About both of them." It was easy to see how they had pulled off pretending Effy and Emily were a couple. Effy cared deeply about both twins; though it was clear she wanted to get back to Katie as she stood up and stretched. She pressed her lips to Emily's cheek before saying her goodbyes to Naomi.

Once they were finally alone Naomi closed the door of Emily's private room and stood by her bed, looking down at the tiny girl lost under the stark white bed sheets. Her skin was pale and had a greyish tint to it, and while her eyes were closed over they were framed by dark circles. Her hair was swept back off her face and her once vibrant red hair had grown dull and limp, with her dark roots beginning to grow through. The machinery around her made her look even smaller than she was, like a defenceless child, but the tube down her throat was the only thing keeping her alive. Naomi kicked off her trainers and carefully curled up beside Emily on top of the bed. She laced their fingers together and tried to ignore how cold the other girl felt.

Her lips pressed against Emily's ear as she closed her own eyes and tried to block the rest of the world out. "Emily, I need you to listen to me. It's time to wake up, ok? Please. I need you to wake up now." She focused on the energy inside of herself, building it up and trying to project it, calling out to Emily. For all she was whispering in the other girl's ear she was praying the words were going deeper. "Please Emily, I need you."

Naomi lay there for hours, focusing her energy on reaching out to the other girl. Eventually it grew dark outside and Naomi's eyes began to drift shut. They snapped open again as something brushed against the back of her hand. She found herself staring in to Emily's big brown eyes. "Ems." Relief flooded through her body as she realised she was awake. Naomi had got through to her and her soul was back where it belonged.

Her relief was cruelly short lived as Emily's eyes fluttered shut amid the sounds of the machines around her beginning to scream out around them. "Emily? Emily?" Naomi got to her feet and frantically checked the machines, not that she had a clue how to work any of them or why they had started going off. The only thing she was certain of was the heart monitor, which had kicked in to overdrive and then suddenly flat lined. The door burst open as nurses and Doctors stormed in to the room, shouting about cardiac arrest and contacting the next of kin.

"What's happening? Is she ok? Please, somebody talk to me!" Naomi felt the panic building up inside of her as a young nurse tried to usher her to the door. She had always been nice to Naomi, bringing her cups of tea in the middle of the night and letting her stay in Emily's room when other nurses had kicked off about it. She gently led Naomi to one of the hard plastic chairs in the corridor outside and took her hand.  
"Naomi, listen to me. Emily's heart's given out. They're trying to restart it…but she's very weak. You have to be prepared for the worst. I'm sorry."

Naomi sat alone outside in the corridor for what seemed like hours before Jenna and Rob Fitch turned up. The doctors had told them what was happening and they had rushed straight over. "Naomi? What's going on?" Jenna pulled the blonde in for a tight hug as Rob paced outside Emily's door. Jenna had spent almost as much time at the hospital as her daughters and on the few occasions they had been there at the same time Naomi and Jenna had become quite close.

The Doctors had been in for almost an hour and no one could tell them what was happening. Eventually the door opened and the lead doctor stepped out, a sombre look on his face. Naomi felt the pit of her stomach drop as bile rose up in her throat. "Mr and Mrs Fitch…we got Emily's heart starting again, but she was without oxygen for eight minutes. With the previous head trauma there may be some complications. We'll have to wait a day or two to do an ECG to assess her condition; but the good news is she's finally awake. She's quite groggy and I would recommend letting her have her rest, but she's been asking for you."


	25. Chapter 25

"Hi." Naomi sat in the chair by Emily's bedside, warily smiling at the other girl as her eyes slowly opened, her thumb gently brushing the back of her hand. She had been in and out of consciousness all night after first waking up, but the Doctors had only allowed the Fitches in to see her. It was the early hours of the morning and as Emily's eyes blinked and adjusted to the room around her it was the first chance Naomi had had to speak to her. She wasn't sure what, if anything, Emily would remember of her time outside her body. Few outer body experiences were ever remembered and with the head trauma and oxygen deprivation there was a good chance Emily's mind would try and protect her from the ordeal she had suffered by blocking it all out.

"Naomi?" Her name came out more like a question than an acknowledgement she was there. She pulled her hand away from the blonde's and stared blankly at her for a few moments, furrowing her brow as though she was trying to piece something together. "What are you doing here?"  
"I…I…I wanted to make sure you were alright." Naomi felt her heart breaking as Emily looked at her like she was a stranger. She guessed that was what they were again. As far as Emily was concerned she was still playing the part of Effy's doting girlfriend while hiding her crush on the blonde sitting by her side. "You've had us all worried Fitch." A small smile crept on to Emily's face at the other girl's concern. How had she ever missed the way Emily smiled at her? It lit her whole face up, even with the bruising under her eyes and her pale skin, she seemed to glow as she realised the girl she was crushing on was finally paying attention to her.

"I should go. You need your rest…I'll come back tomorrow…if that's ok with you?" Emily nodded her head, her throat still sore from the tube that had been shoved down it to help her breath.  
"I'd like that." Her voice was a hoarse whisper as she replied, her smile following Naomi to the door. The other girl paused with her hand on the doorknob. After a beat she turned back around to face her, biting her lip as she struggled to find the right words. Throwing caution to the wind she decided to go with the truth. She had come too close to losing Emily to just walk away.  
"Ems, I need to tell you some things, and you'll probably think I'm crazy but it's all true. Katie and Effy, they'll back me up…but I guess it can wait till morning. I just…I need you to know something now, ok?"  
"Ok."  
"I love you."

She waited for the other girl's reaction. Emily just lay there, staring up at her with those big brown eyes of hers. Slowly the corners of her mouth lifted in to a genuine smile. "Thought you'd given up on me Campbell." Emily seemed to visibly relax; she looked more like the Emily Naomi had grown to know.  
"You remember?" Naomi decided to tread lightly in case she'd picked things up wrong, but as Emily held out her hand for her she felt a flood of relief spread through her. "Why didn't you say?" She let out a heavy sigh as she took the offered hand in her own. Emily's skin was reassuringly warm and soft to the touch. The youngest twin was very much alive.

"I wanted to give you a chance." Emily replied like it should have been obvious. "If you thought I didn't remember then you wouldn't have any obligations…I guess I just wanted to know you still wanted me."  
"Of course I want you!" Naomi protested. She carefully manoeuvred so she was lying beside the smaller girl on top of the hospital bed; it was a much easier task without the multitude of wires and pipes. She softly pressed her lips against Emily's, kissing them for the first time. "You're all I've ever wanted my whole life; even if I didn't always know it. I love you."

Emily seemed pleased by her response and cuddled in to her side, resting her cheek on Naomi's chest. "I love you too."

As Naomi lay on a tartan picnic blanket, with the glow of the warm sun shining down on her face, the scent of the woods and the soft body pressed against her side were all assaulting her senses. It was a moment she had shared with Emily a dozen times before, the only difference being that they were finally physically at Emily's lake. It was even better than she had imagined. "This is perfect." Emily mumbled beside her, echoing her thoughts. They had been planning the trip for a few weeks, but they'd had to wait until Emily was well enough. She'd only been out of hospital for a few days and Naomi had had to endure an hour long lecture from Jenna before she'd been allowed to take her out for the day. "Company could be better-"  
"Oi!" Naomi gasped. She giggled as she tried to sit up and Emily rolled on top of her, silencing her with a kiss. Their lips lingered, the awkwardness of their first kiss long gone. When Emily finally pulled away she settled back beside her, keeping an arm wrapped around Naomi's waist and her head on her chest.

Naomi's eyes lingered on her bright yellow hairband, which was hiding the patch of hair that had been shaved when Emily's head wound had been stitched. The hair was slowly growing back, but it was a constant reminder of what had happened. Emily was lucky to be alive. The Doctors hadn't been able to explain her recovery, but after a few weeks of observation and physiotherapy she had been let out of the hospital with a clean bill of health. The only side effect of her experience was something the doctors would never be able to understand. "It's quiet here. It's nice." Emily smiled up at her absently. "Who would have known there were so many ghosts in Bristol?"  
"You'll get used to it…just avoid hospitals for a while."  
"I never plan on being in another hospital again in my life." Emily wasn't joking. She had become sick of the sight of the four walls of her hospital room.

"Good." Naomi smiled as she laced their hands together. "I don't want to lose you again Ems. I love you." Emily couldn't hide the smile that spread across her face as she leant over to kiss her girlfriend again.  
"I know."

**A/N: Well, that's it folks! One last big thank you to everyone who's been reading and encouraging me to finish this, this is my most reviewed story to date and I appreciate the feedback :) I really hate finishing stories but I have a few others on the go to keep me busy and I'm thinking of doing another supernatural Skins fic (though it won't be connected to this one).  
**


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